


The Thing With Feathers

by Yanex



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: 6000 Years of Pining (Good Omens), AZIRAFELL (give me an A+ for creativity), Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, And very thorought at it, Angel Crowley (Good Omens), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aziraphale and Crowley Through The Ages (Good Omens), Canon Compliant, Cause I know what I'm doing- Freeform, Crowley Has All the Genders (Good Omens), Crowley Was Raphael Before Falling (Good Omens), Crowley is Raphael, Demon Aziraphale (Good Omens), Gen, Genderfluid Crowley (Good Omens), Gore, Humor, I hate this tag but it's true, I promise, I won't make you cry at the end, It makes sense, Jealousy, Multi, Not very expicit though, Oh, Or maybe I'll spare you and keep them as they are, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Outsider, Pining, Rating may or may not change, Really everyone is a pine tree, Reverse Omens, Slow Burn, Sort Of, Sorta kinda, The footnotes' syndacate wants to sue me for abusive behaviour, also, and more - Freeform, historical accurate inaccuracy, if we make it there, kind of, so much attempted humor, through the ages, well it depends how you look at it, what more can i say?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27181897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yanex/pseuds/Yanex
Summary: He remembers. He remembers that blinding white hate peeking when Armageddon started to be discussed, and his fervour, his want to see Raph- to see him again and look him in the eye and tell him-He remembers being lonely and lost, he remembers his crave for a purpose when for a time his purpose had been to filter his brother's brashness, when his purpose had been exploring Heaven with him so, so long ago.He remembers hurt and withdrawal.He remembers his slow descent toward the pit-Aziraphale and Crowley get their happy ending- but what about the other characters?Basically Gabriel gets his punishment and reaps what he's sowed
Relationships: And worth mentioning, Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Better yet - Relationship, Crowley & Gabriel (Good Omens), Gabriel & Raphael (Good Omens), Raphael/several interesting humans during the span of thousands of years, Reverse Aziraphale/ Reverse Crowley
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knew that figure, he saw it at the airbase, of course. It was that sooty- really, the amount of grime he saw on that entity he’d never seen in his whole existence- snooty snake-demon. No surprise Aziraphale kept his company, since not even Beelzebub could stand that flash bastard. So yeah, he saw him at the airbase. But more than that... He knew that hair.
> 
> "No" he whispered brokenly, because no, of course not, of course it couldn’t be. It simply wasn’t possible. Gabriel was merely tired, and those angular features where not Those angular features. They weren’t.

It didn’t sit right with the Messenger, the whole post-Armageddon* shenanigans with the traitors. He had known Aziraphale for such a long time and he was _sure_ that the Principality was a poor excuse of an angel. Barely good enough for Earth duty, let alone more pressing matters Up There.

***That wasn’t, but he wouldn’t dig further in that embarrassing situation**

The thing that _really_ rubbed him the wrong way was his apparent immunity to Hellfire. The Messenger really didn’t know if it was the sign of an uncheckered power hitherto masterfully hidden- but how? Aziraphale certainly wasn’t that smart. He wasn’t smart at all, in fact- or if it showed a major lack of morals and integrity. A rottenness previously screamed to deaf ears. But the Messenger couldn’t have that. If a member of ~~the staff~~ the Host showed the smallest sign of insubordination, of foul and wretched unsuitableness, of temptations given into, of falling under the weight of the wiles the universe offered _he should catch wind of it. He should have known it._ He certainly ought to personally check the rest of the Host when this awful business was dealt with. (Still, the Messenger could dream. And maybe Aziraphale’s resistance to Hellfire was simply due to a punishment delivered by the Highest Power. Maybe the Almighty had degraded him from his angelic station, ruined his grace, made him corrupted and moldy, more demon-like. Oh, what a beautiful thought) So, the Messenger thought and pondered and thought again while tucked away in his office, undisturbed by the chaos that was Heaven in the aftermath of the Armageddon *. He gave himself weeks to think**. Being the organized entity that he was, the Messenger dissected the problem in its every part- and in his shrewd mind everything began to unravel, a plan distinctly forming. So, the Messenger decided to take matters in his own hands.

*** That wasn’t**

****Unfortunately for him, time in Heaven functions on the whim of the Almighty, thus his three weeks had been two years on Earth, but our favorite (even only for having a bit of a personality) Archangel was none the wiser**

Gabriel found himself in front of a specific dusty shop in Soho. Even from the outside the place reeked of humans and mold, but most of all it stank of brimstone and something definitely evil.* Since he realized after a quick peek that the traitor- traitors? Would they be together? - wasn’t inside, Gabriel tried to remember some of the haunts he saw him at in the last two earthly centuries- and some had been so dull that instead of some kind of olfactory or visual memory Gabriel could only remember a stark blank space. Said a lot about the traitor’s character, he acutely thought. Because our Gabriel didn’t have a clue about human eating customs, he first tried at the sushi place, finding that closed too.** Then he tried for the park.

***Gabriel was trying ridiculously hard not to think what could have left that particular smell in the shop.**

****The Esteemed Reader shall not reprove him for his ignorance. Orchestrating Armageddon has taken a lot out of him the last four thousand years, he didn't exactly have the time to learn that no one would ever (or, sane people would never, but all the insane ones where still in bed or playing D &D and GTA at that time of the morning) eat sushi at ten am**

While there he observed all the ridiculous people scattered all over the place. It was so confusing, all this human business. In some ways he found demons less disturbing- and no, it wasn’t blasphemy. They were foul and vile, but at least he could easily understand them, while humans where so beastly and simple that he couldn’t quite wrap his head around them. When walking into a den of Fallen and Imps- not that the Archangel Gabriel found himself in that situation often over the years, may She be praised- you were sure to detect violence and sulphur and bad deeds and wretchedness. Humans were trickier than that. There could be, even just in that small area of Saint James Park, a happy little Catholic Family* that smelt of peacefulness, as well as that vile drunkard that the day before beat his son for having dropped a teacup**- He caught himself just in time. Right around the corner he felt the distinct aura of divinity that angelic corporations inevitably exuded.

There.

_Aziraphale._

Gabriel felt the corners of his mouth downturn in distaste. The traitor sat in his frilly clothes, hands resting on his round lap*** a content expression on his face. He was smiling at a couple of young females talking quietly among themselves, hands intertwined****. The couple apparently knew him, as they waved when they spotted him.

***He approved**

**** He _did not_ approve but he wasn’t in the mood for charitable miracles today **

***** The downturn downturned even more. No respect for the body he was issued, stuffing it full of human gross matter and rounding it on and on. Never much of a soldier that one. At that horrendous airbase, he looked less of a warrior with a sword in hand that his black-clad associate with the metal thing-y (you couldn’t expect Gabriel to know that it came from a discarded car. Nor what its use was. Maybe he could follow you if you mentioned cars; it was modern slang for cart, right?)**

******Gabriel still mildly approved, even though he couldn’t very well see the point of 1) focus love on a specific person 2) love that wasn’t meant for Her, or to educate and raise spawn, but anyway, not a problem.**

Gabriel, quite curious despite himself, leaned against a tree that at the same time hid him from Aziraphale’s view and gave him the perfect spot to watch. The young females went in front of the traitor and conversed for a while. Gabriel properly and charmingly slumped against the trunk, crossing his arms ~~moodily~~ calmly; he couldn’t be bothered to listen to inane human _chatter._ *

***And indeed, Gabriel didn’t listen to them, but if the Esteemed Reader is curious, here was how it went**

**-Hello Mr. Fell. Beautiful afternoon isn’t it?**

**-Absolutely, my dear. How is the thesis coming along?**

**-I am at a tricky point, I must admit, was thinking of dropping by the shop tomorrow to ask if I could borrow some books? Without taking them out of the premises, of course.**

**-You are very welcome to, my dear. You too, Samantha. I have just unearthed a Voltaire you would _adore_ , I’m sure. **

**-Thanks Mr. Fell. Your husband? (the Esteemed Reader may with us cheer at this little fact. Finally, two years after the Armageddon those two ~~bitchy~~ temperamental entities had found a sliver of courage to confess to each other and promptly got married. Really a beautiful, heart-moving ceremony-or at least, that’s what Madame Tracy would say for years to come. **

**It really didn’t matter, but the Almighty’s efforts had finally been rewarded)**

**-Oh, he went shopping with his godchild, but he’ll join me very soon. I guess I will see you tomorrow then, my dears.**

**-See you Mr. Fell! (Because ~~of course~~ Aziraphale was the patron of hard-working uni students around London, as long as his precious books didn’t risk being damaged, what did the Esteemed Reader expect?)**

Suddenly the young females went on their merry way and the traitor started looking at the sky quite intently. Was he repenting for his failures? Begging the Almighty for forgiveness? Gabriel tried to sense the prayer, but apparently the traitor was just lost in thought. The nerve of him, really. Not even an ounce of regret on his puffy, fluffy, fatty face. Gabriel got righteously angered enough that he decided it was just the right time to confront him and make him pay for his misdeeds when a vaguely familiar dark figure unexpectedly appeared in his peripheral vision. It sauntered, dressed like a night-worker* with that tight shirt and tighter pants and its shoulder-length hair swayed just a bit with every step.

***Or so he assumed, Gabriel wasn’t exactly familiar with prostitutes these days. And not that he ever had been. Of course. They all had to burn and scream in the throes of eternal agony Down There, that lot**

He knew that figure, he saw it at the airbase, of course. It was that sooty- really, the amount of grime he saw on that entity he’d never seen in his whole existence- snooty snake-demon. No surprise Aziraphale kept his company, since not even _Beelzebub_ could stand that flash bastard. So yeah, he saw him at the airbase. But more than that... He knew that hair.

"No" he whispered brokenly, because no, of course not, of course it couldn’t be. It simply wasn’t possible. Gabriel was merely tired, and those angular features where not _Those_ angular features. They weren’t.

But he zeroed in on those flaming waves, abruptly, almost forcedly, feeling a pang in his chest; and he was going away, away, burning red hair stamped on his irises, away- He opened his eyes and felt his hands clasped in warm, long, delicate fingers. He looked down, and saw the elegant digits nestled in his palms.

"Hello."

The word made him snap up his head, and he found himself staring in a pair of clear, big eyes.

"Hello. Do you know what is happening?"

"I guess we just came into being."

Somehow, he _knew_ the other was right. He immediately felt he could trust them, and it puzzled him a bit.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"No, I spoke as soon as I saw you."

The other creature smiled at him, and he felt his mouth respond in kind. Suddenly they were enveloped by a warm wind, almost like the caress of a mother to her newborn child, lovingly wiping away what blood and dampness where left on him, witnesses of their struggle to see the light, preparing the baby to meet the world.

"Here you are, our new arrivals" a melodical, stern voice caught his attention "I am Michael, your sister. I welcome you both in the Kingdom of the Lord, Gabriel, and Raphael."

Suddenly Gabriel knew that _he_ was Gabriel, there was no way he could have thought he was Raphael, nor could he even fathom calling Raphael anything other than Raphael.

And as Michael guided them, showing what the Heavens had to offer, Gabriel’s hand was still clasped in warm, long, delicate fingers.

* * *

They trod in the clear space. It was massive, and it was beautiful, and it always struck Gabriel for its elegant simplicity.

Their Mother talked to them, asked them to discover their talents before She assigned them a role. She obviously knew what they were fit for, but that rather was the point– as well as being the point Raphael would make earthly thousands of years later, when proving that free will _existed_ before the Apple Business, but no one wanted to listen to him, poor ~~soul~~ grace.

"Tried your hand at sparring, already?"

"Yeah" Raphael drawled with a grimace "don't like it."

"Why ever not?" Gabriel was sincerely, deeply surprised *.

"Why do _you_ like it?"

"That's rude Raphael. You shouldn’t ask a question when you've just been asked one."

"I shouldn’t, but I’ll do it anyway. Answer first."

Gabriel decided to let it slide, just this once.

"Well... it's just... kind of... relaxing? You get to tire yourself doing something useful that could come in handy someda-"

Raphael burst at that point, and the Heavens were filled with his laugh, a bit harsh around the edges - no, that wasn’t only Gabriel’s impression, thank you very much. And no, he wasn’t feeling put on spot- a bit harsh around the edges it really was.

" _Gabriel_. Michael says _the same thing_ all the time" a smile was still dancing on those playful lips, shining through his eyes, now directly focused on Gabriel, reassuring with that slight mockery melt away "Nothing wrong in disliking sparring."

Then the redhead broke eye contact with his brother and raised his eyebrows and shoulders in a motion that eons after would have been described as aggressively nonchalant.

"In my _humble_ opinion, going around breaking a sweat for nothing is just distasteful" a muscle subtly twitched on his jaw "not to mention that it's purposefully trying to harm others. Not very sporting, methinks**."

"How do you know there’s nothing wrong with it?"  
"Why" Raphael blinked at him owlishly *** "have you heard a direct command from Her?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then we can peacefully lounge all we like as Michael tries to cut herself to wisps."

Gabriel pursed his lips, trying to suppress a smile at Raphael's antics. 

He deeply failed to.

***Just as surprised as Aziraphale would have been around Wessex era had he witnessed this scene, but, alas, he still didn't get to be born, what with just the Archangels and Seraphim around**

**** The Esteemed Reader must understand that the buggers did have access to too much information about language, so mishaps like this one were fairly frequent before… well, before nothing. They’ve always been fairly frequent.**

**Raphael, in particular, had a bit of a problem with being this strange brand of polyglot sometimes.**

*****Had Gabriel known what an owl was it would have been much less confusing**

* * *

"You can't just" flailing arms hit someone's head, but he was too worked up to even notice, let alone apologize* "go around doing everybody's job!"

"I'm _not_ doing everybody's job, brother dearest, I'm simply _healing_ what appears to have gone pear-shaped somehow."

"That's exactly my point, you absolute scamp!"

"Oh, come on, I'm just helping others."

"There is a Modus Operandi, a hierarchy, and _rules_ for a reason!"

"Really-"

"No, _you_ really-"

"Gabriel, stop-"

"No, listen to me for once-"

"You're making a scene. Isn’t there a rule about keeping one’s bearings in check?"

Gabriel looked around them _praying_ to be able to wipe that smirk off his face and prove him wrong, but everyone was still in the hallway, and indeed, they were all staring at them. At him, more precisely. All particularly bewildered, since it was Gabriel being the rowdy one for possibly the first time ever.

Gabriel fought to keep a straight face and not duck his head and go hiding in his office**. 

"Please, don't mind us, and kindly go back to your work."

Raphael 1, Gabriel 0. 

***And he still had to get used to having so many angels around. He kind of missed a bit the times when they were so few and Heaven so empty and new that he and Raphael could stroll for days and not encounter anyone**

****This may have surprised Aziraphale even more, had he watched this scene during Wessex era but, alas, he was still being assembled (and yes, Gabriel at the start was _extremely_ self-conscious and shy. Wessex Aziraphale had to thank Raphael for having dragged him out of his shell)**

* * *

"Really, you are getting a bit over-excited about the whole thing."

" _Overexcited?_ This project is _brilliant."_

 _"_ What's so special about it? She'll probably discard it as soon as She's tired of it. I mean, watch what She did with the blue prototype of that Second Sphere angel."

"That's the point, She’s done tons of angels, there are angels everywhere, just look around the place, there’s barely the space to _exist_ from our sheer quantity! But this one, this one’s so _massive_ and _different_ that She won't tire of it! I mean, She's creating a whole world, a physical universe, and just for them!"

"Raphael, you are supposed to control yourself a little more. It's not proper angelic behavior, going around practically _bouncing_ with unadulterated enthusiasm and delight-"

"But I _am_ delighted!"

"... you should set the example for our siblings, you know, being an _Archangel_ -"

"But-"

"Member of the “Seven that stay before Her”? Chief Angel? Does it ring any bells? Seriously, you should show that the _right_ thing is loving everything and everyone equally, or some of the more fragile members of the Host may be led astray."

"Gabriel, it's impossible to, you know that is a stupid rule-"

"Stop questioning the rules, Raphael!"

"No, I won't! Because they are idiotic, they are useless, why should I love everything equally, it's so _obvious_ that one gets passions and interests after a while, or-"

"You're stepping over a fine line-"

"Or _everyone_ would be the Archangel of Healing, _everyone_ would get to command the army of Heaven-"

"Maybe you’re unsuited for your task, thought about it, since you’re so all-knowing? Have you thought that maybe _you_ are unworthy of being the great Healer?"

Gabriel shouted it in a breath, words tumbling out uncheckered. A mere, stupid second was all it took for his brother to look at him as though he had ripped his wings out, burned his hair to ashes, _betrayed_ him, as if he ever _could_.

He didn't utter a single word. Instead, he just walked away, with tense shoulders and that sad expression in his big eyes.

Gabriel was too scared of his own emotions to go after him.

* * *

"Hey Raphael, what are you doing around here?"

The redhead didn't even bother to raise their* head, staying focused on whatever they were studying, splayed on the table.

"She asked me to start planning how to fill the sky in the physical universe, I'm trying to figure it out."

Gabriel flinched a little in hearing the metaphorical ice in the other's voice. It had been quite some time since their last row, and despite the endless stream of apologies that flowed from Gabriel's mouth every time they saw each other, Raphael still hadn't quite forgiven him. 

"Sounds… pretty challenging!"

"It is. Basically, She wants me to put them onto something to avoid having them floating all over the place- apparently they won't even have wings, could you imagine that? - but that's all. No other directions, whatsoever. No _rules,_ much to your chagrin. "

And here it was, the jab straight to his chest. 

"Listen, Raphael, I'm sorry-"

"I would love to hear you blabber on and on your empty excuses, but prithee** let me work and go hang out with… I don’t know, Zadkiel, or that archangel Sandalphon."

Gabriel felt humiliation rise up in a bundle in his throat. It was almost as painful as imagining of letting Her down.

"I really do not want to talk to you right now. Off to your office, would you? Shoo***."

Gabriel did leave Raphael alone. 

***Because Raphael obviously was the first to explore and experience most things, and the boundaries- more like, the lack thereof- of gender were among them, and Gabriel respected his sibling for that, he really did. Well, it certainly confused him at first. But could it be helped? Should he be blamed for that?  
**

****Here we go again**

*****Raphael never said they didn't have a bit of a cruel streak**

* * *

"Gabriel, Gabriel come and see!"

Gabriel found himself being dragged somewhere by his brother-because of course they made up, eventually. Gabriel just had to wait for Raphael to stop being childishly stubborn and everything was again business as usual - whose fidgeting was reaching epic highs since it started when he'd been given the Universe Assignment.

This pseudo-abduction was so chaotic that he had to shout some excuses after bumping into one too many wings, at some point he just lost notice of their surroundings.

Much later he noticed that they weren't truly in Heaven anymore. 

"What is all of this?"

"This, brother mine, is the Outer Space."

"Outer of what?"

"Outer of Earth, obviously."

"Earth?" Gabriel was feeling a bit stupid, asking these seemingly simple questions, but Raphael didn't seem to notice, too caught up in his stream of thoughts.

"Yeah. In the end, I came up with this thing, I call it planet. I basically took some elements and smashed them together. She liked the planet idea, and She said She will put humans on a planet when their time comes, and She will call it Earth. Anyway, She decided to put it right there- he pointed towards a patch of the universe where the fabric of reality felt a bit more thick- and said _Do you think we should scatter the place only with planets?_ I told Her I didn't think so. And I took the planet idea and rearranged that a bit, and I decided to take inspiration from the planets and did bodies of fire and decided to put them around the place, to brighten it up a bit. She told me that She liked this too, and I have to start, and it's _so_ exciting-"

Gabriel spaced out while his brother started to rant about elements and chemical reactions in an endless flow of words, just staring at him, while the shadow of a thought began to form in the back of his head. 

At some point Raphael had quietened down, and something luminous started to form between his hands. It lightened the sharp planes of his joyful face, and while the first star appeared in the sky shining fiercely, burning with the unangelically violent passion of its creator, Gabriel was filled with a sudden sense of dread.

He was going against the rules, and he was a terrible angel. But he couldn't help loving Raphael more than his other siblings.

Maybe there was something he could do about it. Could he keep it so close to his chest that no one would ever know?

Would _She_ ever know?

_(What was he doing?)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, here Yanex. I hope this resembles something written in English, it isn’t my first language and I’m afraid structures and grammar may sound strange. if anyone catches errors could you point them out to me? (And while we’re on topic, if a pious soul wants to beta this I may thank them to death). I welcome constructive criticism, people, don’t be shy, I tend not to bite.  
> Anyway, this is a OS born when I realized that Gabriel had been left stranded and forgotten to deal with the storm of the failed apocalypse- and I mean, Good Omens is a comedy, I totally get it- and it got out of hand in the blink of an eye because I’m the greatest history&christianity geek this side of the Middle Ages and future chapters will show just how much of this shit I soak up- so if you enjoyed buckle your seatbelts folks, this is going to be a LONG ride.  
> That is, if I get a positive response, because I’m half convinced already on dropping this.  
> Tell me what you think!  
> (If you want to come yell at me about whatever, or if you are the aforementioned pious soul, here’s my Tumblr https://yanexcorner.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Lucifer’s talking about taking over Heaven."
> 
> Gabriel blanched, stunned. Surely, he’d misheard.
> 
> He assured himself that no one was within the distance their voices ran on before getting closer to Khamuel to whisper in her ear.
> 
> "Taking over… _Heaven_?!"
> 
> "Yes. He seems to be unhappy about several things She does, and us Seven do." 
> 
> "But-"
> 
> "Keep an eye on Raphael, Gabriel" he opened his mouth, ready to proclaim his sister's innocence, but she harshly interrupted him "she’s right _there."_

“Gabriel, do you really think all of this... erm, how did you call it?”

“Team building.”

“Yeah, that. Do you think it is necessary? I mean-"

“If I think it’s necessary? Are you joking, of course it is necessary! It's not like back in the days where we all knew each other anymore, there are _millions_ of angels, how are they expected to work well together if they don't know each other a bit?”

“Yes, but why do _I_ have to come?”

“Because these days you virtually talk only to me and Her, you're always in Outer Space, it can't be healthy.”

“Surely _I_ would know what is _healthy_ and what is _not_ , you know, kind of comes with the job.”

“No, you wouldn't, because these days your social interactions are close to zero, so I'm afraid you have kind of lost your touch.”

“... blast it.*”

***Somewhere in time and space, the demon Crowley would claim that team building was his idea. Now the Esteemed Reader knows better**

* * *

"How is it going out here?"  
"Just fine. Up there?"

Gabriel smiled slightly, looking straight at the big void he was sitting in, slowly, but surely filling with stars and nebulas. He would never say it, but admiring Raphael as he worked in hir element held a special space in the heart-like-thing in his chest.

"Fine. Uriel has backed off a little, finally I can do my work without her in my hair. You know, with all that _I am Her light and I will therefore guide you on the right path_ she terrifies everyone, the poor fledglings in particular."

"I believe you" Raphael was chuckling as ze held a blob of plasma, and ze looked a bit like a loon, but ze obviously didn’t care "So, I take it you are good at managing? Found your true vocation?"

He sighed, teeth starting to worry his lip in frustration.

"You know it’s not a vocation-"

"-Because it would be loving something more than the rest, yada yada. Gabriel, really. Relax."

Gabriel looked ze up and down. Same old story, in the end they just had to come back to this topic, an endless cycle constantly reminding him-

But what if. What if letting it out would make it less oppressing?

Can someone confess something like that aloud?

"I cannot, Raphael, it’s scaring. You shouldn’t mock the rules so blatantly."

"I am not mocking anything! I’m just saying that while I really love what I’m doing here" ze raised hir hands a little, showing the blob that was getting more spheric by the minute "with the Outer Space, and I love healing angels that injure themselves, and I love spending time with you, I do not like hanging out with Uriel, I do not like sparring, and I do not like filing paperwork. Why shouldn’t it be normal?"

… apparently one could. And be completely unrepentant for it.

Gabriel couldn’t very well find any valid argument -besides repeating like a parrot _It’s against the rules_ and maybe ending up offending ze again and getting cold shoulder treatment for quite some time , _No thank you_ \- to counter it with.

Raphael 1. Gabriel 0.

As per usual.

* * *

Team building these days pretty much consisted of creating in groups of heterogenous ranks the assigned stuff to put in the Garden when She deemed Earth ready to be made. 

"Gabriel!" The Archangel looked in the voice’s direction, and saw Khamuel rapidly approaching "have you heard of the rumors?"

"There is an impressive amount of rumors in Heaven, Khamuel." 

"Yeah, yeah, I was talking about _Lucifer."_

"Lucifer?" his mind supplied a charming smile and eyes too sharp for their own good. Gabriel's eyebrows arched in curiosity "What has he done?"

"Look for yourself." She pointed one cluster of angels in the back of the room, raptly listening to the Seraph, some nodding enthusiastically. 

"What’s bad about him socializing with others? It’s kind of the purpose of team building." 

"It isn’t simply friendly talk; he’s using these meetings to collect angels who would listen to his ramblings." 

"Raphael does the same, she’s a chatterbox during team building- "

"Lucifer’s talking about taking over Heaven."

Gabriel blanched, stunned. Surely, he’d misheard.

He assured himself that no one was within the distance their voices ran on before getting closer to Khamuel to whisper in her ear.

"Taking over… _Heaven_?!"

"Yes. He seems to be unhappy about several things She does, and us Seven do." 

"But-"

"Keep an eye on Raphael, Gabriel" he opened his mouth, ready to proclaim his sister's innocence, but she harshly interrupted him "she’s right _there."_

Gabriel watched the group, dread settling in his grace as he scanned the crowd. Suddenly there was a flash of light, and he noticed his sister -the long, scaled animal that she had just created slowly coiling around her shoulders- as she _started speaking to Lucifer, with that intrigued look in her big eyes._

Gabriel felt his whole being freeze. 

He definitely had to investigate this Lucifer situation.

* * *

"Here. Better?"

"Definitely. Thank you, Archangel Raphael."

"Raphael!"

Gabriel saw hir head turn towards him, and ze nodded briefly before giving back his attention to the other angel.

"Don't mention it. Now you must excuse me" his sibling shuffled towards him in the sparring arena with ichor-stained hands.

"Hiya Gabriel."

He stared at hir with a frown, then miracled a towel and passed it over.

"Not yours, I assume."

"No, was just healing that fellow over there, got on the wrong end of her trainer's blade" ze was methodically wiping hir hands, and Gabriel felt some kind of morbid fascination seeing the ichor accentuating the small flexes of the muscles. He imagined what it would be like to see Raphael paint hir face in gold like Michael did. Gabriel firmly suppressed the thought. "Shouldn't you be in your office, now?"

"I had to talk to you about some stuff. Care to get somewhere more private?" he received a puzzled look in response, but ze nodded and followed him. As they walked Gabriel started to approach the topic, very smoothly and in an exquisitely subtle manner.

"Have you talked with Lucifer, lately?"

"Yep. Amazing bloke, that one, so opinionated-"

"A bit too much opinionated, isn’t he?"

Raphael abruptly stopped in hir tracks. 

"You are listening to the rumors, aren't you, Gabriel?" when it was met with silence, Raphael sighed deeply, shaking hir head. "It's not _like that,_ I swear."

"Like what?"

"Don't play dumb, brother, it's unbecoming." he received a frosty glare but he held eye contact. He refused to get intimidated by hir "And Lucifer is _not_ planning to take over Heaven as they say. He's just... asking some questions that he hopes She'll be willing to answer to. It's just... existential doubts, you know? Why are we here, what are we to do with the humans when they come... this kind of question... I think they are quite innocuous."

"They might not be so _innocuous_ one day."

"But now they are! I don't understand why you are all worrying so much, he's just trying to understand and I feel for him, I want to understand too!"

"Raphael, it's too dangerous. Who knows what he might try one day, with that flock of ensnared angels around him, hanging on his every word-"

"That's not true, we simply discuss, civilly-"

"Raphael, I want you to stop talking to him."

Ze's eyes widened as ze gaped at him. Was it really that hard to understand that he trying to protect hir?

"Have you gone mad?! You can't tell me what to do, I'm your equal!"

"You are my _sibling-"_

"You don't own me though!"  
"You are my _sibling and_ _I worry about you_ and I want you to stay. Away. From Lucifer."

Gabriel saw hir hands close in tight fists before ze stormed off without another word.

He sighed hoping that at least this once ze would listen to him*.

***The Esteemed Reader may be confused as of how Raphael is Gabriel’s sibling, while Lucifer is not. Well… for how much he’s trying to deny it, Gabriel already used the term in its more _human, possessive, affectionate_ connotation**

* * *

"May we start?"

After a short glance at the table Michael spoke up.

"Where are Jophiel and Raphael?"

The door opened, revealing one of the missing Archangels.

"Raphael will be late, he's Out There with Her."

A scoff sounded through the room, but as Gabriel scanned his eyes across the others' faces he couldn't identify the source.

"Okay, take a seat Jophiel." Gabriel cleared his voice " I believe everyone knows why we're here in council." 

"Aye, aye." Michael looked quite drawn as she beheld her siblings' faces "has anyone besides me talked directly to Lucifer?"

" _I_ have reprimanded him" Zadkiel's grave voice reached their ears. Gabriel always did an internal double-take when Zadkiel spoke. He wasn't exactly... _loquacious._ "for he was starting to get belligerent. He didn’t even acknowledge me. He’s starting to question our authority, the hierarchy that _She_ put in place, and Her motives. We cannot allow him around the other angels."

"He has already gathered quite the crowd, I believe, and among them there is our Raphael."

"Raphael is not one of them, Uriel" Gabriel stood up, struggling to maintain an air of coolness, feeling quite outraged on his brother’s behalf "he simply is not afraid of listening to what Lucifer says, since he’s sure of his faith."

"But Raphael has always disregarded some of the rules, and you cannot deny it."

"I won’t, because he has, but it’s never been of harm to anyone-"

"Raphael is not the point of the discussion here" snapped Michael, making Gabriel feel suitably chastised, and by the sudden look on her face, Uriel too "let’s stay on topic."

"What were you saying about me?- they all noticed the door open and a vortex of red hair and long limbs situated himself on the last chair of the round table – nothing bad, I hope?"  
"Kind of you to join us, brother."

"No need for sarcasm Khamuel, I was with Her. Now, would someone be a dear and sum up what’s been said?"  
There was a tense silence for a few seconds. Gabriel did not like it one bit.

"We just started discussing Lucifer. We think he is not to be allowed near the others, for he is too undisciplined."

"Unfortunately" a long sigh, slender fingers tangling exhaustedly into wavy hair "I must agree with you. He is a bit too rebellious and he’s bordering disrespectfulness these days. But surely angels are allowed to want answers."

Gabriel's hands started to feel clammy. This wouldn't end well, he _knew_ it, why did Raphael had to bring it up every blasted time, _why-_

"What She tells us has to be enough, we must trust Her implicitly to let us know what we need and search not for more."

"Why though? As long as you trust Her and respect Her curiousness should be permitted, even encouraged. I found that when angels are encouraged to be curious, they get more creative, and productive."

"Raphael, you can’t possibly say that!"

"Listen, Uriel, I asked Her, okay? I asked if seeking answers was permitted. She told me that all questions would find an answer eventually, so She basically said that they are permitted!"  
"That’s not it, Raphael" Michael had a gaze of steel, barely tempered with concealed gentleness "She said that answers will come, but She didn’t say that it was alright to actively search for them."

With a troubled expression in his eyes, Raphael didn’t further pursue the subject. Gabriel felt he could breathe again.

"So, shall we merely express our concern to Her?"  
"But She knows what’s happening. Won’t She tell us what to do?"

"I think" Gabriel interjected "that we should just warn the Host. Tell them that this kind of behavior will not be accepted. "

Silence descended upon them once again. Most had a grim expression twisting their features. Uriel was beaming

"Those in favor say aye."

It was for the best.

"Aye."

_It had to._

* * *

"Gabriel, we can't _cast them out!_ They are our _siblings!"_

"Indeed, we can't. But _She_ 's more than able to."

"I'm not talking about practical capability, I'm saying that it's unethical! I don't even believe they would be able to harm anyone!

"You also thought that Lucifer was right on all fronts, at the start."

"I did not say that, don't you twist my words" Gabriel got a glare, but he was far too exasperated to care at that point "I just said that I found him and his questions interesting, nothing more."

"Raphael, just admit that you aren't the best judge of character, there's nothing wrong with that." 

"Oh, but Gabriel, what did She _say?"_

"She said that some will have to be banished from Heaven, and I suppose that will be them, rather than anyone else-"

"But how can you even conceive it? What do you think will happen, you just going around and, I don't know, cutting their wings at random?"

Gabriel's thoughts finally felt bright again. Nothing like a nice chat to will the clouds away.

That may or may not be the reason why his brother ambushed him in the middle of a corridor a few hours later.

"Blasted wings. I had to say _cut their wings,_ I just _had to_ give you guys the idea!"

Gabriel studied him, tired after another intense meeting of the Seven. Raphael hadn't spoken a word the whole time, face impassible and eyes closed off. He wasn't so passive anymore, as the redhead positively _seethed._

"You know it has to come to that."

"No, it does not! There doesn’t _have_ to be a war, or arbitrary capital punishment!"

"Raphael, you have to face the fact that we are talking about _traitors-"_

"No, it's not-"

"That are following the one who states that he can rule better than She does- "

"Gabriel stop- "

"Hence, _he_ wants to rule! Stop denying it to yourself! It is not what it was the first time you talked to him, it is not!"

Something seemed to snap and Raphael sank to his knees, back curved, hands twisted painfully in the curtain of red hair that didn’t quite hide his warped face, and Gabriel's first thought was that he was pathetic. How could he cry like this for angels that didn't deserve the title anymore, for they were rejecting Her, their Creator? How could he weep for those who deserved to be pushed into the ground and spit onto? How could he debase himself to this kind of desperation while finally believing that Lucifer must be eliminated?

After several seconds he was heavily aware of his brother wailing on Heaven's floor, limbs trembling, shaking mane highlighting his broken movements, and as much as he _knew_ he should want to kneel at his side and comfort him, he couldn't find it in himself. Just thinking that _this,_ this quivering mess, thiswas the Archangel of Healing, the one who invented celestial bodies and spun the stars in the sky with Her, the mighty Raphael who didn't spar because he couldn't bear to spill blood unnecessarily but disarmed you with his massive staff in a jiffy, just thinking that _this_ was the being born at his side made him sick, and the only thing he wanted was to kick him in the gut, for he was just a measly creature, no shred of dignity left in him, standing no higher than the snake that he created on that fateful day. A poor excuse for an angel.

"Let it be known that I told you so, Raphael" he leveled him with a harsh glare "it’s not like you didn’t know it was happening. And _stop crying,_ for Her sake."

He turned tail, and left him there, sobbing and alone.

* * *

"The Archangels are usurpers!" Lucifer began his tirade, in the angels’ council "how is it right for them to have such power over us? Why are _they allowed_ to tell us what to do, when to do it, that we shouldn’t conduct ourselves in such ways? Why can’t we be trusted to make our own decisions?"

Gabriel watched him blankly from his throne, unimpressed, like the rest of the Seven-except Raphael, whose shining eyes seemed at the point of letting the tears go at any moment. Gabriel’s mouth became a tight line after that, and Michael in his place took a breath before trying to speak-

"Why does She interact just with them, most days? Aren’t we worthy enough of standing in Her presence? Tell me, angels, are we not worth enough?" there was a worrying uproar at that "And _Mother"_ he looked upward, fury written all over his suddenly ugly, warped face "why do the humans get to be to your image? What were we, experiments? ANSWER ME MOTHER, WERE WE EXPERIMENTS? DON’T YOU _LOVE_ US?"

  
There was a long, pregnant silence, and no reply came. Gabriel had had enough.

"Lucifer, you must have faith-"

"Faith, Gabriel? Faith in whom, tell me, a being who obviously does not care for us? Who does not let us question?"

“That is untrue, brother” Raphael rose from hir throne, singling out on Lucifer, eyes blazing, voice disgustingly full of compassion “I already told you that when asked directly She didn’t forbid us to ask questions. She only said to have _patience_ , for all will be answered. Angels, do not despair for She has not abandoned us; She’s simply giving us space to grow.”

“Did you hear him?” Lucifer started again, mocking once more, while Raphael’s jaw clenched at the tone or the disrespect etched in the pronoun, Gabriel wasn’t sure “She’s giving us _space to grow._ Tell me, do you want to submit to these beings? Because I do not want to. Anyone who is with me, please, follow me out of this place.”

And he did just that, with a flock of fellows behind him.

Michael sucked in a breath, pupils unseeing, lost in the distance. The Almighty was probably saying something only her ears could hear.

“Angels!” she roared abruptly, eyes blazing and fierce again “those standing by Lucifer will be kicked out of Heaven! She has just asked us to enact her will. Take your weapons and follow me.”

Gabriel unsheathed his dagger, hot on her heels.

* * *

“If you stay with him, you will be expelled from the Host, and you will lose Her; Her grace and love will be ripped from your core, and you will suffer endlessly. This is your last chance: come here and fight with me, you’ll be welcomed back with open arms.”

Gabriel watched her with a small smile barely stretching his face, and rejoiced in the few dozens of angels that, fearful, got behind her, tail between their legs.

But then it all became a blur, all thoughts of smugness washed away by the amount of blood- for now they _bled,_ red and angry and with an uncomfortable tang of metal, no more golden ichor to stain skin or clothes- that dripped from his hands and blade, pieces of drenched feathers and torn muscle stuck to them. His head was spinning since the first one whose wings- and left arm- he cut, since catching glimpses of the floor vanishing under their feet, the whole being burning and screaming on their way down.

He was a bit shaken, but he wouldn’t let it affect him: he was doing the right thing, he was enacting Her will, and he would do so without complaining in the slightest.

Time dilated, as he cut and maimed and blinded and damned and spun on his feet, tired, soaked in blood and soot, heavy, dizzy… almost tripping on a body crouching on the ground. He focused on it, taking a few steps backwards, and saw Raphael, covered in soot and blood hirself , red hair spilling everywhere, healing an angel wounded by a traitor, and then without the slightest hesitation approaching a traitor, squatting down, and putting back into place eyes and bones.

Gabriel was staggered; he simply didn’t know how to react. How could ze be so duplicitous? Nurse who is right and who is wrong, even while wearing a still white tunic, so starkly unlike the black ones miracled by Lucifer on his peers just before the battle?

He watched in a daze as ze crossed the field, healing and healing and healing with trembling hands, but never stopping, never-

Suddenly, he noticed a traitor approaching Raphael from behind, axe prepared to strike the Archangel, who was kneeling besides a mostly prone white-clad fellow, hands in the other’s wings, ignorant of how hirs were about to be cut by a crazed traitor who probably was trying to make a statement in making Fall the member of the Seven most adjacent to their cause, sure that it would stick, that She would let hir fall.

And Gabriel in that moment realized, ze probably would. Even though, _because_ every Fall had to be deserved in Her eyes or it would just result in a life-long maim, if Raphael’s wings got cut, _ze would most certainly Fall_ , because ze was too curious, too inquiring, almost too soft for hir role sometimes, too ambiguous… and at the same time ze wasn’t a bad angel. Maybe a bad Archangel, but as an angel ze was fine.

But Gabriel was horrified, because Raphael shouldn’t be allowed to be part of the Host if ze wasn’t wholly perfect, and no matter how much Gabriel had cared for hir, ze wasn’t the same being he had loved now.

_Or had ze always been this ambiguous? This rebellious?_

Gabriel watched, oddly detached, as the axe fell on Raphael’s wings, effectively sawing through four of them. A heartbreaking scream rose over the rest of the noise, and some stopped to battle, watching the scene entranced as a fierce light- Raphael’s grace, for Her sake, _hir very grace-_ erupted from hir back, momentarily blinding them all in its greatness, throwing away all the angels near in its sheer strength.

Everything froze as Raphael’s fiery mane actually caught fire as well as the rest of hir, while still holy tears sizzled on hir cheeks, burning flesh, and Raphael’s brimming eyes fixed on Gabriel.  
_Brother, please, please, help me_ , they seemed to scream, _I’m afraid, it hurts, tell me it will be ok. It hurts... it hurts so much-_  
When he didn’t react to the plea the buzzing sound of tears on ruined cheeks boosted.  
He stared, motionless, as the hair took a darker hue- _those hair, ze has always liked hir hair, hir curles that looked like silk ~~that Gabriel wanted to touch~~_ -and the fair skin started to burn and melt away with agonizing slowness.  
“Raphael?”  
A single, bewildered whisper could be heard over the steady sounds of the flames, broken and disbelieving.  
Raphael moved abruptly, facing the source of it with hope etched in every line of hir face. Ze extended hir burning hand toward Michael who now stood two feet away from hir, shaking her head mutely, unable to comprehend, unwilling to accept the queer scene displaying before her own eyes. She didn’t take the proffered fingers- _those warm, delicate, long fingers… Gabriel go, go and hold them, like you did that day, that day so long ago, the day you were created_ \- and Raphael’s head sagged between blackened shoulders, turning to stare at Gabriel again, not a small motion, not a twitch to make hir frail body quiver into the Holy Fire enfolding hir in a deadly embrace until all that was left was a copper-haired, dark-winged skeleton with the odd patch of charred skin still clinging to the bones, traces of grace steadily seeping away. _But hir face was mostly intact, so strangely preserved that one’s hand could itch to touch and heal, to easily mend what the flames were trying to claim and take away_ -

  
And set into a bleeding face, above the angry red path of fallen tears, those all too familiar golden eyes bore into him, betrayed and questioning, still asking for an answer as the ground dissolved under hir folded legs, the start of ze’s descent to She-knows-where.

It was the first - _and only, how do you explain that the others haven’t shattered you like this?_ \- Fall that he bothered to watch unfold in its horrifying, beautiful entirety.

_Gabriel, you’re allowed to, just this once, you’ve lost a sibling, you can let yourself feel it._

Gabriel watched it. Gabriel watched, with his dagger unsheathed, firmly held in a hand caked with blood and sweat.

Gabriel watched. And he didn’t.

_Just…_

Feel.

_…Just this once…_

A thing.

_…You can cry._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GEEKY NOTE (you'll have to get used to these, if not interested, feel free to skip forward)  
> Some of you may be confused at my use of Archangels and archangels, or the mention of the Seven.  
> This is what one can call pure middle-ages Christian lore, better known as ANGELOLOGY. Yup, it's a thing.  
> Anyway, you won't find any of this shit in the Bible- cause that book is an elusive little shit that barely mentions Michael in the Old Testament and talks about Gabriel in the New one if I remember correctly (feel free to call me out on that one if you are sure it's another version of the thing)- but between the Book of Enoch and various Jewish and Islamic myths angelology was born along the way, and medieval people LOVED angels and demons.  
> So, angelology postulates that the angels of the Lord are divided in Three Spheres, and each of them have three subcategories (maybe you heard some of them, like Cherubim, Dominions, Virtues...). Anyway, the highest power among the angels should be the category at the top of the first Sphere, the Seraphim (hence why Lucifer was the most bright and beautiful of the Lord's angels). The archangels are listed in the Third Sphere and basically have to guide humans. Anyway, then there is another theory that puts ABOVE the Three Spheres these seven Archangels that "stand before the Lord", so technically they are so cool and holy that they don't have to kneel in front of God. Those Seven Archangels are our bitches Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel (present in the series), Zadkiel, Khamuel, Jophiel (maybe some of you know them with slightly different names, but that's just spelling variants for you). For the joy of all you folks, Sandalphon is indeed and archangel with lowkey a, so you all can feel vindicated on Aziraphale's behalf.
> 
> ACTUAL NOTE  
> Anyway, I thank so much those who left feedback in the previous chapter, you kinda gave me the strenght to post this. I planned on posting weekly, but busy life will be busy, so I come with this one day earlier and hope I won't have to leave you for very long waiting for the third.  
> Tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I should have saved him Mother" his voice wasn’t trembling, and he brough his hands to his eyes merely to hide the sweat slipping from his eyelids "I should have saved him! He was a good angel, a worthy part of the Seven, a compassionate being, and now he’s-" he concentrated on the couple on the bench, holding hands and smiling fondly at each other "he’s thrown himself in the arms of that inept angel, for he probably has been lonely and-"
> 
> "MY CHILD-"

Suddenly Gabriel couldn’t breathe. He really should have buried better those memories, see that they would never return again- because Gabriel _did not_ consciously keep them, because Gabriel _did not_ while his time away when sitting at his desk overflowing with reports and paperwork, staring in the distance, empty eyes set on the wall while admiring once more that playful, joyful, refreshing, unrepeatable smile that taunted him from the past and moved him to work even harder to plan Armageddon so that it would all go smoothly, so that he could spit his hate in their face, for having left him, for having left him broken ( _So that he could see that smile one last time)._ Gabriel _did not_ , period- but now, they just came back so _vivid_ , and complete, and lengthy that he had thought he was really living again at Raphael’s side.

The name, that forbidden dead name brought him sharply back to the present situation. He saw that long black and red figure sit on the bench next to the traitor, and why was his chest heaving this much, why were his cheekbones suddenly so wet and warm, why-

_"GABRIEL."_

His stinging eyes abruptly became wide as saucers, and he looked up to the bleary skies.

"Mother…?"

_"WHO ELSE WOULD I BE? MY CHILD, I KNOW I HAVEN’T SPOKEN TO YOU IN A LONG TIME-I FOUND THAT YOU HAVE QUITE DISPLEASED ME- BUT DON’T YOU EVEN RECOGNISE MY VOICE?"_

Gabriel’s lip didn’t wobble as his cheeks grew wet at the thought that She hadn’t talked to him since before the Fall. *

***And Gabriel certainly may appear dumb to certain humans, but the Esteemed Reader knows that he is quite intelligent indeed- he put two and two together in no time.**

"I should have saved him Mother" his voice wasn’t trembling, and he brough his hands to his eyes merely to hide the sweat slipping from his eyelids "I should have saved him! He was a good angel, a worthy part of the Seven, a compassionate being, and now he’s-" he concentrated on the couple on the bench, holding hands and smiling fondly at each other "he’s thrown himself in the arms of that inept angel, for he probably has been lonely and-"

_"MY CHILD, YOUR THOUGHTS ARE ONCE MORE APPALLING ME. THOSE ARE NOT THE RIGHT REASONS TO SAVE A BEING. YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT AGAIN, EVEN THOUGH I JUST SHOWED YOU WHAT IT WAS, YOU STILL TREAD THAT MISLEADING PATH THAT LEADS YOUR REASON ASTRAY."_

"But Mother-"

Gabriel couldn’t breathe, and he soon found that he could no longer speak-

For he was shouting, acting on impulse for once, and Raphael turned hir head, saw the traitor just in time to widen hir eyes and bring hir hands to the staff and move to block them, but ze didn’t have time, didn’t have-

Gabriel firmly put aside the need to punish the traitor and miracled them away altogether, axe still swinging in the air, and he seized his sibling in his arms, keeping hir flush against his chest and feeling hir's warmth seep through fabric cause ze's alive, ze's _alive_ -

He took them both away from the battle, enduring kicks and shouts and pleas to go back, pretending that Raphael wasn’t moving, wasn’t screaming, wasn’t asking to return. He could do it, for his sibling’s sake.

(Meanwhile the axe cut through the prone angel’s back, who was almost unconscious and couldn’t have risen when those warm hands disappeared, sawing off the wings. The prone angel had been thinking dazedly of what Lucifer had said in council, barely two hours ago, and how it had seemed right in some capacity.

The prone angel Fell.

His name was Aziraphale, but that wasn’t important anymore, wasn’t it?)

* * *

There had been more screaming, more kicking, self-guilt and…

"You should have left me there."

"To _Fall_?"

"No, that bit you got right. After. You should have left me to heal."

"You could have been injured."

"I don’t care. It’s my purpose. They needed me."

"We are not having this discussion. I refuse to hear you say that."

"Then go and ignore me, you are _so good at that."_

And Gabriel didn’t stomp off. He wasn’t hurt. He was a mildly irritated Archangel going to pace around Alpha Centauri because his wings where itching to be stretched. Because, you know, metaphysical needs. Nothing to do with stress.

… and harmful words.

(When did they come to this? Oh, yeah. When Raphael started questioning basically everything.)

(And hadn’t Gabriel abandoned hir? Hadn’t he kicked hir in the dirt and spit on hir face when ze already was so low?)

* * *

Gabriel was willing to admit it now. He had panicked. A little. Maybe a little more than a little. But seeing Raphael there, about to be killed, to be Felled, it was as though a trigger of repressed emotions- for how long did he let himself repress this much?- had switched and _all he could think of_ was that he wanted hir to be _safe-_

Hence the current predicament. The two of them on the binary stars that Raphael made once with Gabriel in attendance, the rest of the Host battling, far away, as though a distant nightmare.

He decided to let the angels wind down, to come back when all was mostly settled, with no more screaming beings lit aflame and disappearing in the great nothing. He didn’t want to see that ever again. Maybe they could get some peace here.

Well, when Raphael calmed down.

But as he saw hir sitting, knees drawn to hir chest, eyes flitting morosely between the stars, shining brighter than usual, he decided not to waste time.

"Hey."

The only reaction he got was a twitching muscle on the jaw’s cutting edge. Right…

"How are you feeling?"

There was a long stretch of silence, and Gabriel resigned himself to watch hir profile, content peacefulness settling in his stomach as he traced the sharp slope of hir nose and the gentle curves of hir curls despite the cold shoulder treatment _(ze was alive, nothing else mattered, ze was alive-)_

"Tired. Empty. Awful. You pick."

That didn’t need a proper response so, grateful for the effort Raphael was making to overcome hir anger, he shuffled closer until their wings touched and their feathers mingled. Raphael didn’t flinch nor move away. Gabriel counted that as a victory.

Suddenly, Gabriel caught fiery glimpses of light in the distance, shooting down.

"Look! What’s that? Some kind of meteorite shower?"

A short silence answered him, but it was so grave and heavy that he turned his head in confusion. Raphael’s lips were tightly pursed, and hir hands were tense, and ze seemed to compress hirself into a tight ball of coiled rage and apathy as ze grabbed hir robe, almost _tearing_ it to shreds.

"It’s not a meteorite shower" Raphael sounded even more wrung out than before- it’s _them._

Gabriel, dumbfounded, observed more closely. They appeared from thin air, in that small spot of the universe where the fabric of darkness was thicker, were She would put the Earth, and plummeted down at breakneck speed, disappearing right at the end of the area, vanishing into nothingness. He saw the vague shape of wings at the start of the journey downwards, but they disappeared, gradually.

Well.

That was a thing.

* * *

"So now… what?"

"We wait for Her to create the first one."

"But it’s all…in place? I mean, She’s done it? There’s _life?"  
_Raphael smiled at him, nodding.

"There is. Do you want to take a stroll down there?"  
Gabriel positively shone with relief and contentedness, following his brother on the way to the Earth.

The time after the War * had been rough on the Host. They were mourning the loss of the battle casualties, and at the same time Gabriel had to do Herculean work** to reassign people, dismember departments and make new ones, what with humanity finally on the way of being created, with such a meager amount of angels if compared to the original stock. Thus, he was grateful for the distraction that visiting Earth could provide, even though maybe his expectations were too great- it probably wouldn’t be as beautiful as Heaven.

But as he trod between the green plants, the colorful flowers and the merry wildlife, a thick veil of red swirling and unfurling before him, an impish smile directed at him before Raphael returned his intense attention to Eden, he found that he wasn’t disappointed in the slightest.

***In Heaven it was always capitalized since it was the only one. It had been Raphael’s idea. Here is a thing that the Esteemed Reader’s most beloved demon actually did come up with himself**

****Not that he knew what a Hercules was, but it was in his standard issued vocabulary so he’d use it anyway (She really should give them a more reasonable language comprehension, poor things)**

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go?"

"Of course" he got a wistful smile "it isn’t as though I can do much up here anyway."

"Well, you could-"

"Now that creation is finished, I must fulfill my purpose and watch over them."

"You could do it from here."

"What use would I be for them if I were here in Heaven?"

Gabriel watched him, disheartened.

"You will be lonely."

"Nah" the smile was a bit more cheerful now "they’ll keep me company. I bet they are terribly interesting creatures."

"… _I_ will be lonely."

It was hard to say. Gabriel shouldn’t emotionally rely so much on a single angel, it didn’t make sense, because he was good and he loved them all. But he knew he would feel lonely when Raphael was gone, and he didn’t _want_ to know _why_.

"Why do you say that? There’s always… I don’t know, Uriel?"  
That startled a chuckle out of them both.

"Seriously, there’s plenty of people to socialize with up here. Also" Raphael adjusted his robe, staff firmly in hand, a mischievous glint in his big eyes "you could always come down and check my work."

Gabriel smiled slightly, finally reassured; the excuse was as fake and flimsy as it can get, but it soothed his worried mind _just so_ -

"Of course. Wouldn’t want you to slack off."

"Indeed" he looked around himself, pausing for a brief moment. Gabriel got somber again, sensing the farewell approaching "Well then. I should really go."

Gabriel nodded gloomily.

"Until next time, brother."

Raphael didn’t reply, if not with that barely widened smile, before unfolding his wings and taking off, leaving Heaven.

Well. He should get back to the maintenance department. No time to waste being sentimental.

* * *

Gabriel was _fuming._ There really was no other word for it. He had written to Raphael a couple of times, and everything seemed to be swell _._ The answers he got were all about the lovely plants, and animals, and oh the sun seen from here is magnificent, and the _humans, so interesting!_

Maybe if they really had been interesting Raphael would have kept closer watch on them.

It was all going so well, he had his letters, he had his work to do and he was at his desk in his cozy* office, and everything was under control for the first time since the War.

***The Esteemed Reader shall remember that Gabriel had _standards_ and his definition of cozy pretty much equivales to hard, aseptic minimalism, but it’s the thought that counts, right?**

Of course, that had been too good to be true.

He had descended to Earth at lightning-speed after that only seemingly unassuming memo had landed on his desk. _IMMINENT FALL OF HUMANITY._ And it was directly from Her.

That’s how the Archangel Gabriel found himself immersed into Her Holy Light and booming fury watching the humans get the most thorough scolding She had done up until that point* and trying to make themselves smaller under Her scrutiny.

***Not the most epic She would ever do though. Years and years after The Scolding** Gabriel would still shake in fear*** at its memory. Raphael sure as Hell didn’t try to do drugs ever again.**

****The Esteemed Reader shall be aware of the capitalization. Capitalization is important, Esteemed Reader.**

*****And maybe something else. (But no, of course, angels are too pure for that kind of thought. What was the Esteemed thinking?!)**

In the whirlwind of it all he got a glimpse of some strange animal’s tail, probably a snake. When he heard that demonic wily snakes were being cursed too, everything got clearer.

That’s also how the Archangel Gabriel found himself storming on the Wall as the humans were scurrying out of the Garden, fully enraged and disgruntled for the disruption of his new-found equilibrium.

These pleasant emotions flared up as soon as he saw a wiry figure sitting on the edge of the Wall, so unbothered that she was _swinging her legs._

"Would you tell me how, _exactly,_ this happened? Because I really cannot understand it."

Raphael turned toward him, the picture of innocence and relax- she had the _gall_ to extend her arms behind her and _slouch._

"Hi, brother, so nice to see you too." she threw Gabriel a fake grin. The nerve of her "It’s not as dramatic as it sounds, She just went a bit ove-"

" _Not as dramatic as it sounds?_ Raphael, do you think I’m stupid?"  
"Really, Gabriel, it’s just Lucifer."

" _Just Lucifer?! Just. Lucifer?"_

"Oh, come on, all of this has been wildly exaggerated, my word. He came up, made a spot of trouble and went down again."

"You should have stopped him!"

"It’s not as if I could know!"

"Of course it was, you had to guard the humans, you should have sensed any danger coming their way, especially a demon!"  
"How was I supposed to know it wasn’t just a rabbit? It’s not as though I’ve had great experience in dealing with our _hereditary enemies*_ as of yet!"  
Gabriel pursed his lips and fought the urge to throw his hands at the sky. Or to punch her.

That’s how the Archangel Gabriel left Eden’s wall disgruntledly and grumping under his breath about all that wasted work, leaving behind the Archangel of Healing and her smug expression**.

***Source: Uriel’s speech to the angelic crowds three not-weeks after the Fall. Gabriel fully appreciated it, much to his own astonishment.**

****In fact, Raphael was so happy and smug about the new developments- finally humans would be able to perform discerning thought, imagine _the sheer amount of possibilities_ that had opened just now? – that she manifested an apple in her hand and sank her teeth into it with extreme satisfaction. **

**She let that sweet flavor explode in her mouth, some juice trickling wet on her chin, and contentedly watched them go across the desert, a slow knowing smile spreading across her glistening lips.**

**She would catch up with them.**

**Eventually.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, I basically skipped an update, so terribly sorry folks but schedules and this author don't agree :)  
> Anyway, thank you loads to those who left kudos, I hope y'all will like this.  
> Please tell me what you think, it would give me so much perspective.  
> Enjoy!
> 
> (For those that are asking themselves and are quite confused, yeah, the end note keeps repasting itself everywhere, it has decided it has to haunt us for some reason)  
> Edit: problem solved.   
> I think.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Look at him" Raphael was staring fondly at the new human, giggling in its father’s embrace "he’s so innocent, so vulnerable. He will have to be taught everything at the start, you know? He will have to trust completely the people around him to protect him and keep him safe and help him learn how to manage life."
> 
> Gabriel observed the little thing, a little curious despite himself.
> 
> "How couldn’t She love something so pure?"

The third time Gabriel went down to Earth was because of a glaring message that appeared right on his work desk.

_Miracle used on a human._

Nothing more.

Obviously, the humans were being tempted again by the competition. And while they were sinners, Gabriel couldn’t in good conscience abandon them to the clutches of those gross, mean, rotten demons* if only not to let said demons take them and get smug about it.

So, he went down at breakneck speed**preparing for the worst. They probably had already been corrupted a second time, and if Hell had them they would have resources Heaven did not, even though it was just these two pathetic little animals- and no, Gabriel had not been impressed when he’d briefly watched Adam and Eve get out of the Garden; stupid creatures, choosing to leave the safest haven ever to be created.

Idiots.

***The Esteemed Reader may not be amused by the fact that the only time an angel ever saw a demon up to that point was Raphael’s spotting of Satan in the Garden- but Gabriel got right nonetheless the quite expired flesh of their lower counterparts**

****The Esteemed Reader shall picture that escalators didn’t quite exist at the time- nor did normal stairs or anything of the such if we must say so- hence the only way to reach Earth and go back to Heaven was flying through some flimsy strange space fabric that got you all disoriented by the time you hit the atmosphere- therefore, breakneck was unfortunately not a metaphor**

But he wouldn’t have been prepared to the horrific sight before him in a thousand of years (an obnoxious voice in the back of his head told him he should have expected it, but he fiercely made it shut up).

There was the woman lying on a bed of leaves, the man beside her looking thoroughly confused. She was crying loudly, shouting and shedding tears. Gabriel suddenly thought that her face really was quite ugly, warped and wrinkled like that. But that’s not what was most disconcerting. The absolute _worst_ was that Gabriel saw a third body kneeling between her legs, head hid by her trembling thighs, and encouraging words in a voice known too well-

"That’s good, Eve, you’re almost there."

"It’s too much, please!" the woman wailed, her voice heavy with _something_.

"It won’t take long, come on, you are almost there."

Gabriel stood wide-eyed as sloppy sounds resonated obscenely, snapping out of his shock one second too late.

"Raphael, what are you doing there?!"  
"I am a bit occupied as of now, brother, wait a moment! No, hush Eve, it’s alright, he’s another angel, come on pet, concentrate." Gabriel froze as he saw those familiar fingers caress her shaking leg before disappearing again _somewhere._

"Ok, breathe, we’ve almost finished. Are you ready?"  
The woman nodded, sweat sticking her hair on her neck and face. Really, couldn’t she wipe some of it off?  
"Okay Eve, last effort I promise. Push on three ok? Breathe. Now, one, two, three!"  
With a broken cry the woman let out a pained scream, and suddenly Gabriel smelt blood and heard a nauseating squelching sound; soon a little wail rang in the still air and Raphael was lifting a small thing that hadn’t been there before, Gabriel was sure of that.

He wiped it gently, smiling slightly, before placing it into the waiting arms of the woman. The man peered quite curiously, before touching the little thing’s head.

"Rapha-"

"Hush, you tactless being." Raphael rose, and with one last warm glance he walked towards Gabriel "come on, let’s leave them a bit of privacy."

* * *

"What’s the meaning of this?"  
Gabriel had just flown back to Heaven when Michael thrusted the note on his face.

"Exactly what it says."

"And?"  
"It was Raphael."

"Raphael?! Raphael has been asked to mind his business if he really wants to stay on Earth!" she was positively _fuming_ and Gabriel wondered if _he_ would have fumed, had he not seen it for himself "I personally told him not to interact with the sinners, why does he never listen to me?! How dare he-"  
As Michael continued to rant Gabriel stayed silent for a while, thinking long and hard about it. Maybe-

"What was he even doing?!"  
"He was… healing the woman, I guess you could say."

Michael’s puzzled look made him explain that strange scene he’d witnessed.

"She was delivering another human, but she couldn’t do it on her own, it’s a… messy business, and the man was nonplussed to the point that he would have probably injured her. Raphael says that the littlest thing could go very wrong. And it was-"

"What was?  
"The new human. It was so… small."

"Small? As in, short?"  
"No. Small. It was all pudgy and soft looking, and it couldn’t even speak. It was so small that it could nestle in the crook of the woman’s arms."

_"Look at him" Raphael was staring fondly at the new human, giggling in its father’s embrace "he’s so innocent, so vulnerable. He will have to be taught everything at the start, you know? He will have to trust completely the people around him to protect him and keep him safe and help him learn how to manage life."_

_Gabriel observed the little thing, a little curious despite himself._

_"How couldn’t She love something so pure?"_

"And you know what? As it all went well, and now the humans have the chance to produce more generations of their kind" he throwed her a meaningful glance "maybe the Almighty doesn’t want them to die out just of yet."

"So" understanding dawned on Michael’s face "She might be giving them… a second chance?"

Gabriel smiled a little more, thinking of Raphael’s soft gaze as he cleaned the little thing, careless of the fluids sullying his robe, the mess of humanity dirtying his body.

"I think She might be."

* * *

Gabriel was working on a pet-project of his. The Almighty spoke to him and told him that they “had to take care of the humans” * but, as She was wont to do, didn’t give any details.

 ***The Esteemed Reader might want to picture his trying-not-to-seem-smug face at having figured out that She still loved them,** **_“and all on his own!”_ **

Therefore, he thought about what he saw the few times he went to ~~visit~~ check on Raphael (spoiler: not much) and he reckoned that maybe a good, sturdy place to live in would be appreciated when living on trees was the only other option. Not that he knew very well how to do it, but maybe-

"Gabriel! We may have a problem!"

He snapped up his head at Jophiel’s voice, startled and mildly irritated at the distraction.

Suddenly he shot up from his chair, flummoxed.

"Abel? What are you even doing here?"  
The boy, for indeed it was the second child of the humans standing in front of him, all rumpled and confused, shot him a scared look.

"You are Raphael’s brother, aren’t you?"

He was alternating between wringing his hands and burying them in his mop of hair, touching the back of his skull, looking so much smaller than he really was.

"Can you take me to him?"  
Gabriel stared at the Archangel standing behind the young human, a stronger blend of impatience and irritation seeping through his mind. This was all so unconceivable, a human in Heaven, what the Hell was happening-

"Jophiel, what…?"  
"I don’t know. I was just searching for Zadkiel and this one was there looking all disoriented."

"Please, can you bring me to Raphael?"  
Gabriel ignored the boy’s request for the moment, observing his figure, still reeling from the shock, silently praying Her not to leave him in the dark.

"Jophiel but how could he come up here-"

"Without wings? My exact thoughts."

"Listen to me!" the human shouted, so distressed that the sound vibrated through Heaven’s quiet halls "I need to see Raphael! Where is he?"

The two Archangels fixed him with a disappointed glare. Gabriel tried to think of how Raphael made the brats shut up when they got boisterous like this but couldn’t remember a thing at the moment. Was it really necessary of the human to be so loud?

It was so inappropriate. Especially while he was in a place that he never should have even set eyes onto.

In the end Gabriel took pity of the trembling boy, scared eyes flitting around the room, and went on Earth to make the Healer an impromptu visit, sure that somehow that careless angel had messed it up.

Gabriel was confused when he found him kneeling on the ground, a sobbing Eve in his arms, Adam staring in the distance. It was so strange, seeing the humans so distressed. Had they noticed their youngest was missing? Were they aware of his disobedience- and really, had _they_ spoiled him so much he demanded to be served as soon as he set foot in Heaven? Was Raphael making amends for having sent their son away?

He didn’t make his presence known, albeit wanting nothing more than to storm in front of the three beings and demand an explanation- but let’s say he learned his lesson that time the first brat was being delivered… also, where was the eldest child?

However, when Raphael finally looked up and locked eyes with him, a hopeless, pained cry screaming out of those watery irises…suddenly Gabriel realized that maybe it was worse than he had thought.

* * *

"She _cursed_ the human?"

A grave nod answered, barely distinguishable in their fly up to the skies.

Gabriel pursed his lips, tired already of extracting bits of information here and there, reluctantly delivered.

"But why?"

"I told you, he killed his brother."

"Brother that right now is in Heaven! And very much corporeal! What are we supposed to do of him?!"  
Raphael shook his head, eyes firmly set before him, and shrugged. Gabriel really wanted to… do something to him. He didn’t know what. Maybe slap him behind the head.

He was quite cross with him, that was sure.

As they finally reached the Kingdom of the Lord, they found themselves shouldering between a throng of angels, distracted from their jobs, forming a compact wall of pressed individuals trying to get a glimpse.

"There's nothing to see here!" Gabriel boomed, so done with this day already, scaring a good lot of them* "go back to your duties, or I will demote you all to the archiving division! Nothing to see here! **"

***Some wistfully thought of the days when Gabriel was all demure and mostly silent, trailing after Raphael and too shy to talk to anyone else. Good times.**

****Wistfulness increased at inhuman levels- the one time that something sensational was happening, really! Was it such a hardship to let them enjoy this?**

**(Apparently, it was, and they weren't about to test Gabriel's temper. No one forgot of Aniel's fate when she talked back at him. They didn't forget her tears either when he made her run all his errands at breakneck speed.)**

  
Suddenly they reluctantly slipped away, making room for the two Archangels who strode purposefully toward the small figure, almost invisible behind the highest members of the Host.

As soon as the human spotted them approaching he let out a distressed cry that sounded suspiciously like _Raphael*_ , and ran to the Healer, clutching at the angel’s robes, holding for dear life (and wasn’t that ironic? If it really was what it seemed to be-), shivering encircled in Raphael’s arms.

"Hush, Abel, it’s okay, it’s okay."

Gabriel noticed the Archangels peering curiously at the display, quite understandable since none of them had ever set foot on Earth- while inhabited by its designed occupants, at least- bemused and a bit uncomfortable**

***The Esteemed Reader may want to know that Jophiel had composed the first litany to ever exist in memory of this occasion-the poor bugger had had to stay with the boy while Gabriel went down, and it isn’t everyday that you hear your brother’s name said, monotonously sung and wailed 37 times over in the span of half an hour.**

****The Esteemed Reader will understand that hugging (and more so, getting tears and snot all over your robes) wasn’t exactly Heaven’s policy- they were all feeling quite claustrophobic on their brother’s sake (said brother didn’t seem to mind, but that’s quirky Raphael, they expected no less of him)**

"Raphael" the human whimpered pitifully, his crying muffled by the soft fabric he had buried his face into "… Raphael."

He seemed to do no more than chant the Archangel’s name. Was that some sort of strange human ritual?  
"I’m here kid, I’m right here" Raphael breathed in the earthly tang that lingered on the boy, as though to reassure himself that the human was really there, solid in his arms "You won’t be alone, I promise. Hush, Abel, it’s alright. Tell me what happened, would you?"

"The..." the human persisted in his sniffing, hunched and still grasping at the Healer.

"The… the last thing I" he hiccupped.

"I remember is, is Cain, and then the mountain..." another hiccup.

"And I was watching a, a rabbit, hopping" here we go again "hopping between the grass, and my head, my head hurt so much! I, I felt a cracking sound, and it was as though my skull was being… crushed!"

Raphael stared dead on at the boy’s blotchy face, grief leaking from the pained edge that twisted his lips. Gabriel was still confused, and annoyed, as he was forced to watch passively the effects of Raphael’s playing godfather* for the human children. However, as morbid as it was, that grief soothed him, gave him and hint as of how he should react. After all, he was to feel for Her creations’ suffering to steer them toward the correct path, right? **

***Not that godfathers existed as of yet, but, again, too much vocabulary**

****Never mind that these moments of empathy manifested only in the presence of _one_ being, and in reaction to _one_ being’s ailments… but our hero shall maybe learn compassion this way, at some point? Baby steps, right?**

"Do you remember that time I showed you that wilted flower, and told you it was because it didn’t have nourishment anymore?" the boy nodded, eyes big and expectant and wobblily fixed in the Archangel’s "or those animals your father hunts to feed you?"

The human’s attention stayed fixed on Raphael, body abandoned in the Archangel’s arm in a way Gabriel had never witnessed before. It wasn’t just trust, it wasn’t just admiration, and it wasn’t just love. Somehow, it was something greater that met the three in the middle- something that someday Gabriel would recognize as true filial affection.

Humans were made to Her image. In that moment, Gabriel was cognizant witness of Her beauty shining through their spirit and found himself in awe of it.

"That’s what is called Death." came Raphael’s hushed whisper after a second, a second so pregnant with a disbelieving and awed realization that it felt like a week to Gabriel "I believe you’re Dead, my child."

"But" the boy’s eyes grew bigger and more lost. Uriel scoffed at the drama unfolding before them, insensitive as they were wont to be. Fortunately, Khamuel took care of that and shot them a scathing glare which finally left them quiet "but I wasn’t hungry."

"It’s the trauma that made you die. In the back of your head." Raphael’s hands started to move hair from the human’s nape, searching for a wound that apparently wasn’t there "But it isn’t hurting right now, isn’t it?"  
The boy shook his head, letting his brow fall again on the Archangel’s chest with a small sigh. Incredible how much he usually already looked like Adam, but now appeared as nothing more than a child.

"What I still do not comprehend" Zadkiel’s quiet voice startled everyone from the heavy silence that had surrounded them "is why he is here."

The impression of an idea started to form in the back of Gabriel’s mind. If humans had Her love, then-

"She wouldn’t discard them after so little time" he blurted, awed as understanding dawned upon him.

Another stretch of silence. Of course, how could he have been so blind? It was no use inventing them, letting them die and then lose them forever, after life spans so short. But then, did Abel get on Heaven because he was intrinsically good and angel-like as opposed to more demonic inclinations or any human from now on would get to live in the Kingdom of the Lord, no matter the sins they sullied themselves with during their time on Earth? Would every human shine with Her light, would every human amaze him in their likeliness to Her ineffable immensity?

Gabriel heard someone clearing their voice, and was promptly pulled out of his reverie. He found everyone staring at him in varying levels of confusion. Oh, yes. They probably hadn’t heard the whole idea.

In the end, he had to repeat it one too many times to get the point across- humans can be redeemed- with the human still held in Raphael’s arms, unmoving the whole time, making things more awkward- of course, he _had to_ sugar-coat some parts for the boy’s sake*.

***And _no,_ he wouldn’t have done it if not for Raphael’s steely glare, he still didn’t get why he had to restrain himself for the sake of these beautiful and surprisingly She-like that was sure, but _limited_ creatures**

Gabriel was in such a state afterward that he put Zadkiel and Jophiel- and _now_ he deeply understood why the Almighty had seemed to despise endless streams of questions in earlier days- on dead-humans-guarding duty out of spite, and left, storming in his office. Suddenly he couldn’t pay attention to his pet project. He had to figure out _where_ to put all the humans to come, and what do with them.

The Archangel Gabriel suddenly wasn’t all too happy to have got down the rather moot point about humans. And he wouldn’t be happy when a few years down the line he would get a note from the Prince of Hell (the _nerve!_ ) stating that His Lowness ( _the nerve of them all!)_ would send someone up on Earth to ensnare all the humans to damn themselves and then go Below- they apparently were immensely enjoying torturing their first arrival.

And well, Gabriel was quite upset, but he was generous enough to set up a plan to thwart the fiends and save the humans- and of course it was about humanity’s salvation and redemption, he wasn’t the type to rise to a challenge made by that wretched Beelzebub of all beings! Thus, fully planning to ask Her for a promotion- or maybe a vacation, _please, could She let him have a vacation? A teeny tiny break?_ \- if he ended up doing a good job, he started to create and organize three new major departments from scratch.

May She give him the strength…

_END OF ACT 1_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: yeah, we will stick to an organized, clear, neat, sane schedule, and we will prove to the world that we are a functioning human being  
> Also me:  
> ...  
> ...  
> ...Sanity is overrated anyway
> 
> So yeah, I guess I gave up on trying to keep chapters on Saturdays, and I'll give y'all with average one chapter a week with no warning at all. Should be fun.  
> Anyway, do you remember how I said this story is a very long ride indeed?  
> Yeah. Don't get excited 'cause Act One (forgive me, I'm a theatre kid, can't help it) ends at chapter four. Proportions are royally disregarded around here.  
> I hope you enjoyed and please, I need feedback to get better at writing, tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

_Esteemed Reader,_

_we wish to sincerely apologize for the whiplash that this has probably been for you up until this point._

_Unfortunately, time was so finicky back in the days that we honestly think only reading The Plan would have made us able to determine when the events we’re following happened… regrettably, that’s highly classified material._

_But the best thing is that we’re finally coming into charted waters, Esteemed Reader._

_Chin up, and enjoy your next torment, from not enough to too much information, so much you will probably be able to pass a very thorough history test with flying colors at the end of our journey._

_Sincerely,_

_The Omniscient Narrator_

_(and doesn’t that sound familiar?)_

**_Here is part of the historically fundamental correspondence between Archangels, that we pilfered seeking our Esteemed Reader’s_ ** **love and praise**

_Archangel Gabriel,  
Human population is slowly but steadily growing. Prayers are approximatively 4% of the daily words uttered by the average man shaped person, and 5% of the ones’ of the female shaped persons.  
Latest invention has been named “the wheel”. Check if needed in Heaven.  
Respectfully  
Arch. Raphael  
  
_

_P.S What am I missing out on Up There? Michael has probably put all my reports into spam, she isn’t answering anymore. I’m worried.  
  
_

_-_

_Esteemed Archangel Raphael,  
The Prayers quota is no longer needed, You may cease counting them.  
Archangel Michael requests the number of Unholy wars taking Place.  
Respectfully  
Arch. Gabriel  
  
_

_P.S. Indeed, sibling mine, Michael has relegated your incoming memos in the spam box and therefore asked me to forward her messages to you. She says you’ll be put out of spam a few centuries down the line.  
You’re not missing much at the moment, things are pretty stale right now. I’ll tell you if something major happens._

_-_

_  
Archangel Gabriel,  
I thank You immensely for taking down the Prayers Quota- it was honestly tiresome.  
As for the information the Archangel Michael needed there’s average six to seven Unholy Wars per semester.  
As requested by the Archangel Uriel some humans have miraculously found their way further into the Asian Continent, and soon we’ll be ready to send some across this little strip of sea and directly into the European Continent.  
Regards  
Arch. Raphael  
  
_

_P.S. Oh Brother! How bittersweet it is to be scorned by my own sister, and disrespected so foully! You should have defended my honour and gotten her to take me out of spam! How wounded my poor bleeding heart!  
However, I don’t believe you when you say that nothing is going on. Hadn’t you decided to set up a construction department? How is it faring?  
  
_

_-_

_  
Archangel Raphael,  
Should I bring to Your Attention that no matter how Taxing, each Heavenly Work has the precise Purpose of maintaining High the respect and adoration for Her among Angels and Humans, and shan’t be bemoaned?  
The Archangel Michael thanks you for your work. The Archangel Uriel will get back to you on Their own.  
Regards,  
Arch. Gabriel_

_  
P.S. Raphael, you drama queen, you tempt me to tell you I couldn’t defend your honour for lack of a honour to speak of, but I’m much too kind to.  
Michael will take all the time she wants to detoxicate from your insistent memos, and I support her wholeheartedly.  
I’m happy you remembered about the construction department- I had to repeat to Michael why I was relocating those three hundred angels at least four times before she stopped asking. I’m still not sure whether it’s a sign of understanding or she simply stopped caring.  
However, it’s coming along alright, but not many of them have brought to me designs of any interest- and those that may be appropriate have such faults that they may collapse for lack of a good study of the distribution of the weights. Do you have any suggestions-other than holding everything up by miracle and promptly make Heaven go so far out of the established quota the Almighty may very well decide to reprimand us?_

_-  
  
_

_Archangel Gabriel,  
If my words have been mistaken for bemoaning I’m deeply at fault- it wasn’t _in any way _what I intended. After all, I bet knowing the number of times humans prayed every day was_ extremely _important for the Almighty and us too.  
I might inform you that The Evil One has shewn up, and goes by the name of Azrafell, probably to be stationed on Earth indefinitely, occupying a place specular to mine.  
Regards,  
Arch. Raphael  
  
_

 _P.S. Gabriel,  
First of all, thank you so much for that reprimand, it really made my day. Secondly, your inner Less-Than-Holiness is showing if you have the gall of siding with Michael and not with your beloved brother down here.  
As for the construction department you should know I remember everything. And, after all, you were kind of excited at the prospect- or that’s what your words on paper showed me since you deny me the pleasure of your presence. Couldn’t you come here and check my work? I bet you would like it, the humans multiplied and did so fast, now they’re divided in cities of many tribes, it’s so very different from what you had seen of them at the times of our beloved Eve (can someone go check on her and her sons sometime and see how she’s faring with eternal life?)  
Anyway, couldn’t you try to draw yourself the future constructions, and give the three hundred angels the _instructions _to build them?  
Affectionately,  
Raphael ( I guessed If I closed with greetings the actual letter I may as well do the same with our little extra communication, was I wrong?)  
  
_

_-_

_Archangel Raphael,_

_Now that the Evil One shares the planet with you an even more fastidious care should be put into your actions, as to not let the humans be led astray by the constant presence of a wretched Unholy.  
  
You are respectfully requested to find and share more information about this demon, viz. rank, abilities et cetera ._

_Regards,  
Arch. Gabriel_

_  
Raphael,  
I will ignore your initial brash and rude words (even though I’m curious as to what exactly made you so joyful about the reprimand as to “make your day”) and proceed in thanking you for the tip. Do you really thing I could do something like that? One thing is designing offices and cubicles, another are whole buildings- that should be beautiful and praise Her in the shape of every stone. I’ll give it some thought nonetheless.  
I’m afraid that this latest project of mine, as well as the other everyday duties render heavy my workload, and do not permit me to move from here. I’ll try to come down in... one hundred twenty years? Would it be acceptable?  
Affectionately,  
Gabriel_

_(No, you weren’t wrong, it feels more appropriate this way, doesn’t it?)  
  
_

_PPS Have you received Jophiel’s plan for the initial sorting of human souls at the Door of Heaven? What do you think of it?_

_  
-_

_Arch. Raphael,  
Your insight is still needed on the matter.  
Respectfully  
Arch. Gabriel  
  
_

_PS Raphael haven’t you received my message? What is it, some fifty mortal years since we’ve heard from each other last?_

_  
-  
  
_

_Arch. Raphael,  
Reiterated content from last communication.  
Arch Gabriel  
  
_

_Raphael_

_is something wrong? It’s been ten years since my last message and still I haven’t received a word from you.  
  
_

_-  
  
_

_Raphael  
You have me worried up here. Please, let me know how you’ve been faring.  
  
_

_-  
  
_

_Raphael I searched for you in Ur, and you weren’t there, I asked around and_ no one _of this generation has ever seen you... you shouldn’t be that hard to spot, red headed and tall as you are!  
  
_

_-  
  
_

_Raphael where are you?  
  
_

_-  
  
_

_Raphael it’s been eighty years, where are you?_

_  
-  
  
_

_~~Where the hell are you~~ _ _Raphael we need you to do a job, answer this message.  
  
_

_-  
  
_

_Raphael ~~I’m scared what have you gotten yourself into, have you been killed?~~ we need you for an assignment, it can’t be put off much more.  
  
_

_-  
  
_

_Raphael I even tracked down that earthly demon Azra-whatever, it hasn’t seen you in ages and swears it hasn’t discorporated you in more than two centuries.  
  
_

_-_

_  
Raphael you really need to get back to me, the human of the assignment I told you about is aging, I don’t know how much more time the Almighty will give him._

_-_

_Raphael, answer me please.  
  
_

_-  
  
_

_Raphael I’m worried.  
  
-_

_Raphael, it’s Gabriel.  
 ~~I miss you~~  
  
_

_-  
  
_

_Raphael?_ _  
  
__-_

_  
Dear Gabriel,  
Brother, one can’t be occupied for a century that he ~~wakes up~~ comes back to a pile of letters? Anyway, come at my house (edited address) and we can talk about that assignment.  
See ya in a bit  
Raphael  
  
PS, yes, I’ve just finished reading Jophiel’s plan, I think it’s alright. And I’m fully intending on convincing him to make some Gates with a wide open space to look over instead of giving them all claustrophobia trying to fit through a tiny door and getting into a tiny room. Some high Gates may be preferred, don’t you think? And maybe make them step into an orchard instead of the room? Or a great clear space?  
Anyway, we’ll talk about it_

* * *

**3157 BC- Hebron, Palestine**

“Ok, now you have to tell me why the Hell _she_ goes in the middle.”

“ _She_ goes in the middle because _she_ will speak to the man. Also, mind you language.”

“And that’s my point, I’ve been stationed here since eight hundred years ago! _I’m_ the best at talking to humans! Also, don’t you even try to talk to me like that.”  
“Do not speak of me as though I wasn’t here, would you? And stop being so childish. You’re both embarrassing.”  
Gabriel and Raphael turned abruptly towards Michael, whose eyes narrowed to slits, staring at them both.

“And Raphael, that’s exactly why _I_ will speak to the humans. _I_ could never pass as one of them, while if he spoke with _you,_ he would think he was talking with a mortal.”

“Oi, no need to be nasty!”  
Michael rolled her eyes, and strode forward, sure that they would follow*.

*** They did.**

As they entered the room Gabriel was hit by the stench of blood and sweat and sheep, and immediately he wanted to retch. How did Raphael bear with staying in their huts when they stank like that?

Pursing his lips and going for a granite glare in his purple eyes (that would do the trick, right? No purple eyes amongst the humans, so all the more unsettling and intimidating-into-doing-Her-bidding, yes?) he was sure he looked quite the part as Her Messenger (and no one needed to know that the expression really meant that he was two seconds away from puking on the floor, right?) as they saw the man, white and wrinkly and curved and _frail_. Weren’t there younger sage men? Just for the sake of Public Image since Hell’s little mascots where always alluring youths.

As soon as he spotted them- glowing a bit for appearances (Gabriel knew Raphael did not approve, but eye rolling wasn’t going to get him anywhere) he went on his knees, head bowed, waiting in trepidation. Gabriel ignored the loud crack of his kneecaps and spine as he did so.

“Child of Adam, listen to me, for I am an Angel of the Lord” the poor man nodded, watching silently the gold rings around Raphael’s forearms*, the patches on Michael’s cheekbones** and the gold smeared on her lips*** “you have the Lord’s favor. Therefore, your prayers will be fulfilled. Your wife will bear you a child despite her age, for it is well in the power of our Lord.”

***Quite real and sometimes extremely difficult to explain. The poor lad had to cover his arms half the time (Raphael will always remember to be mindful of what he asks for since that blasted time he had been in Ur and didn’t know what to pass the stripes off as. He muttered sarcastically to Her that She could have given him freckles and beauty spots instead of bloody _gold stripes_. Mom took a look at his face and happily sprayed it with freckles, because She liked how they looked scattered on his cheekbones and nose, not to shut him up, of course- he shut up anyway, so that’s a bonus.**

**** Also quite real.**

*****Not quite real, but the Esteemed Reader knows how much businesswomen love looking ethereal and unattainable (and in this case the Archangel Michael, Commander of the Armies of Heaven, made quite the point)**

Gabriel saw the man shaking, gratitude etched all over his face, before thanking profusely and almost passing out.

“I told you to make the dramatic speech _after_ I healed him” hissed Raphael at their sister, who seemed pretty unaffected by the whole ordeal, while he gently pushed the man down on his cot “if he blacks out from blood loss _you_ are going to save Lot and his… erm, lot.”

Michael pursed her lips at that. Gabriel really wished he had her cool as he _did not_ flee the tent. (Really, he just went to check that lovely oak outside. Nothing to do with the sickening stink of blood, and sweat, and human that slapped him in the face and aggressively filled his nose when Raphael lifted the hem of the man’s tunic to inspect the post-circumcision damage. Absolutely not.)

“Also, why the Hell should I have _two_ tasks while you lazy people have only _one_? Moreover, you deliver a measly little message, and _the other one_ only has to set in flames a _town_ ” Gabriel heard the redhead’s snarky drawl from inside the tent and pointedly ignored the belittling of his Sodom assignment, while he perused the fine oak. (It really was a beautiful oak, wasn’t it? So… oaky.)

“Oh, but, Raphael, _you_ are the best at talking to humans! We would never be able to convince them to move away!” he widened his eyes hearing the sing-song answer* “and we certainly wouldn’t have been able to heal such a sensitive part of the human body- oi, what was that?”

***Michael _never_ sing-songed. Never in her life she would have debased herself to such childishness. It had just become an historical moment (and now the Esteemed reader knows why in the Bible these happenings are told a little differently. Telling the story of how the Archangel Michael sing-songed at her -his, some would say- brother certainly wasn’t meaty enough for the early campfire stories that years after went in the first drafts of the Holy Book**

Gabriel dropped to his knees, face in his hands, as he heard the distinct _thud_ of Raphael’s staff as it hit Michael’s head, praying Her for… he didn’t even know what. Suddenly he wished no longer to have Michael’s cool.

There wasn’t a cool to speak of anymore.

* * *

**3157 BC (a few hours later) - somewhere along the Jordan, kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorra**

Gabriel did not necessarily like his task. Really, it sounded quite tiresome. Couldn’t humans try to be good for once, so they didn’t have to constantly wipe them off with Floods- quite a messy time, what with all the children’s souls having floated in mass to Heaven rightfully asking to be let in*- or make their lives impossible with thousands of idioms so different they couldn’t even understand each other anymore- but, after all, that Tower had really been a punch in the eye, ruining the skyline so tastelessly!- so they could all live peacefully? Was it really so hard?

*** That had really been quite embarrassing, since the whole spirit of the thing was to cancel humanity momentarily because they had all been led astray by the Adversary’s wiles-Adversary that, by the way, was having the time of their life with so many human souls to torture (Beelzebub even sent him a smug and self-satisfied note that Gabriel had immediately crumpled in his hands as he restrained himself from going Down There to smite them)**

Anyway, since Michael apparently _had stuff to attend to_ , and Raphael was still chatting with that positively ancient humans Abraham and Sarah*, he had to get someone else for moral support**.

***Of course, Raphael also had his other task, but couldn’t he shoo Lot’s family away and then help him to take down the city? He really was lazy, sometimes…**

****And, yes, that was _his_ job and he should have done that alone, but _really,_ he was a Messenger and a… more hands-off leader, why should he have to do this by himself when they all loved him Up There and were more than happy to help?**

He had been a bit conflicted about who he should have asked for assistance if he had to be honest, but at last he settled on an old acquaintance.

“So? Shall we start to burn some humans?”

Gabriel prayed that he had been the right choice.

“All in good time. Let’s take a stroll around the city first.”

Sandalphon deflated a bit. Gabriel really appreciated his dedication, but the archangel should really try to be a little more even minded.

With their wide, white wings stretched behind them, they walked among the streets, careful not to let the feathers brush the dusty ground.

They saw men at the market, talking among themselves. They saw women with glinting eyes clinging at their arms, covered in lush robes. They saw children laughing wildly in the streets, chasing a dog or a ball of rags. They saw scantly covered girls, grinning seductively at men that were promptly ensnared, and followed them. They saw urchins stealing fruit from the stalls. They saw men round and heavy, used to eat plenty of food and enjoy it all the more for its sheer superfluity. 

They saw sinners.

They were all sinners. 

“Had your fill, Gabriel?” sneered the archangel beside him “I think the stench of wiles will last me a couple of centuries.”

Gabriel too was appalled; he remembered the times of Adam and Eve, the two of them teaching their children to be humble, to work hard and worship Her. Probably no human did remember those ways. Not anymore. 

He nodded curtly to his companion, who suddenly grinned so wide that Gabriel thought it would split his human flesh.

Gabriel briefly considered making a grand speech, telling them what was falling upon them, the way he had done with the Flood. 

But no, Sandalphon was already snapping his fingers, and in the end, it didn’t really matter anyway. 

Suddenly, brimstone and fire started to pour down from the sky, so bright and fierce that it could only be Heavenly power. It had a way of being beautiful, the Almighty’s destruction and punishment (he remembered a meteor shower that wasn’t a meteor shower. He remembered water covering the planet. He didn’t smile, but a surge of awe swelled in his chest. It was soothing how the effect that only She could have on them would never disappear, even in the worst of moments- not that this was one of them, he was absolutely proud of his assignment).

They continued to walk the streets, now filled with screams and cries for help, the sinners scattering around the place wildly, reminding Gabriel of cattle and sheep. They were tainted, twisted, they were like animals. Was there stronger proof of Hell’s role in their descent? Weren’t they resembling those demons already?

Rancorous laughter suddenly erupted at his left. Startled, Gabriel saw Sandalphon cackling, a bitter amusement edging the sound while he pointed in front of him. 

There was a throng of sinners, kneeling on the ground, face in the dirt, chanting, wailing and crying their words toward the sky. 

They were praying. 

The sinners. The sinners were praying.

Gabriel spun on his heel, suddenly overcome with the need to see, to flee, to-

And if they weren’t running, if they weren’t hugging others near, with their lush robes and scant clothes and round bellies and hungry stomachs singed by the flames, blistered with burns, they were _praying._ They cried- robes on fire, eating them alive. Their charred flesh blackening, hands turning to ash, lungs exploding from the heat, but they were _praying_. Why were they praying? They, being obliterated for their blasphemousness by the order of the Lord, were asking Her to save them, to save their souls, to save their children, to save their wives.

He saw a woman with an infant in her arms. She was trying to shield him from the flames, shushing him while she cried, whispering words of worship to Her, asking Her to protect her little boy. And she reminded him of Eve.

He saw a girl, clinging to her father, telling him she loved him. And she reminded him of Abel.

But the absolute worst was that Gabriel _felt_ these supplications. He felt them in his head, ringing like bells, messages he could or couldn’t take, requests, heartfelt requests, because these sinners _believed_ , and they were asking the Almighty to do right by them. And there was an urge in him, deep inside, compelling him to react, because there were children of the Lord that begged to be saved, and _he had to_ , it was his job, why shouldn’t he help them? He was an angel, for Her sake, he did _good_ and _right_ and _how could he stand there and do nothing?_

Why had the Almighty asked him to do this? Was this a test? Was he carrying out orders, or was he going against his very nature? Why do something so-

He stumbled, carrying himself like a drunk man, eyes wide, unnecessary heart stuttering.

Gabriel saw destruction, fire and brimstone so thick that some humans were coughing spasmodically as they suffocated. There were corpses in the dust. There were praying sinners in the dirt. 

His eye caught the hill beyond the city, suddenly unable to witness one more second of-

He saw three women and a man and children escaping this throbbing tomb. He saw a pillar of salt, on the edge of the hill, and a red headed figure at its side, wide, white wings stretched behind him. 

And there were still screams, and the stench of burning food and burning hair and burning flesh, there was waste and dirt, and blood oozing in the ground, there was chanting, there was screaming, there was that mad laughter. 

He locked eyes with Raphael’s golden ones.

_What am I doing?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Sorry, life is indeed chaotic and this is so very late.  
> I think it shows a bit but we're entering an "historical" part of this story and it's legit my favourite. If someone finds errors that I didn'tpoint out as volountary feel free to tell me.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please, let me know what you think, or which parts you liked or hated, I need feedback to go on writing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time since the creation of Earth, Gabriel’s mind was at peace.

**2701 BC- Memphis, Egypt**

Gabriel had conferred with Michael. After all the mess of the last couple of centuries they’d decided that maybe Heaven needed a clear policy. Just so humans knew what to strive for, that’s all.

Problem is, to save face the angels had to conform to it.

And it was fine! Really, it was more than fine. In their nature and all. Yeah, he could have gone with a little less mushy graciousness and _appreciation_ of others’ work- it was _their job, for Her sake!-_ but he thought he was doing pretty well- poor Haniel, the secretary angel that got together all of his mail and reports didn’t really agree, not that she could say it, poor ~~soul~~ grace.

So, Gabriel decided that it was time to start and be polite. Politeness was a form of respect, right? Definitely in their policy.

That’s why he took a sheet of papyrus and sent Raphael a note, informing him that he would come in a few days, asking for his current address.

He received a torn scrap- probably an angle of his own pristine, polished note- where a location had been hastily scribbled. It kind of seemed a bit mocking, but Gabriel chose not to take it personally. Raphael had always been- simply put- a bit of a jerk.

So, when the time came, he unfolded his wings* and took off, the atmosphere making him claustrophobic after so much time without it.

*** The Esteemed Reader should remember that birds came after the creation of angels, and that the Almighty hadn’t thought yet of giving them hollow bones to make them more comfortable and lighter. The Esteemed may thus imagine the weight of a school backpack on their shoulders. They should then try imagining of putting a cheetah as well as all the texts into said backpack. In the case of an Archangel- unfortunate enough to have _multiple_ sets of wings- the Esteemed Reader may add one or two more of the aforementioned rowdy overgrown cats, who will then either start eating each other’s heads off or try mating in the ridiculous space they are confined in. And on top of it all, they should try imagining of having arms- not quite correct but the Esteemed Reader doesn’t have limbs similar enough to make a Nice and Accurate comparison, or at least we hope they don’t- of that weight sprouting from the middle of their shoulder blades. **

**The Esteemed Reader may now guess why Gabriel didn’t make an habit of going around with his wings hanging out (if the Esteemed thinks that it’s unnatural and nonsensical since angel wings weight nothing while flying in the air, the Esteemed hasn’t realized that the Almighty works in mysterious ways)**

Gabriel shook his head as he landed, trying to neutralize the spell that took him when finally putting his feet on the ground, and looking around he fervently hoped he got the address right. He heard chanting in the background- never a good sign- and the room was dimly lit, just enough to be spooky really, and smelled of…food? There sure was a sugary scent hanging in the air, and Gabriel suddenly felt the need to retch because-

There were footsteps approaching, and before he could react the door swung open.

“What the fuck are you doing in this holy room?! You aren’t…”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow in a way that would have made Raphael proud, taking the short human in. He was plump to the point of overweight, rolls of fat hanging around his middle and chin, modesty barely observed with that tiny rag possibly tied at the waist, upper hem disappearing under the lard filled skin, and covering his huge thighs just some inches from the knee. Gabriel tried very hard not to let his face pull itself in a disgusted sneer- he didn’t succeed.

“Yes?”  
The human had trailed off just after insulting him, suddenly awestruck. He fell to his knees on the polished floor, forehead pressed against the stone, arms extended before him. At that point Gabriel’s eyebrows knitted together. The humans sure had weird ways of expressing worship- and they were getting weirder by the century. Quite odd creatures they were, that he could say freely.

“Listen human, it was really lovely meeting you, but now I must be off. Oh, do you per chance know where I can find a creature, he’s tall, has red hair-”

“And eyes of the sun, stars on his skin” the human was nodding frantically, as he snatched more than a glance behind Gabriel’s shoulders (and that reminded him, the wings were getting really heavy, so he tucked them away without so much as a second thought) Gabriel was surprised by the sheer _reverence_ in the human’s voice, words tender, like the cherished secret of a dear treasure. Like... almost like some sort of love? No, but “if it’s Him you’re seeking I shall bring you to His presence.” 

Gabriel, trying to suppress his confusion, gave a curt nod, and followed the human, who had scattered on his feet and was leading him out of the door. 

Gabriel found the obvious capitalization in his voice quite disturbing. After all, you were supposed to do it only when you mentioned Her. Had Raphael deceived these humans? What exactly was he doing?

Was he so bored he wanted to play with their minds?

Not conscious of how much his thoughts were straying from the path of trust and affiliation he should stick to while thinking of his brother, Gabriel was eyeing suspiciously the great carved stone on the walls beside him. It had been scrubbed so thoroughly that he saw his reflection stare back at him, purple eyes hued brown in the strange light. This cleanness clearly spoke of care and diligence. Zealous work. Mind set on the greater purpose, and not on the passing fatigue that this may have caused the humans. 

All of this was quite adjacent to Heaven’s policy. Maybe he should have another talk with Michael...

“Mane of the end and the beginning, life and death in the red of sunset and sunrise, son of Ra accept our offer, we worship you!”

Gabriel froze at the booming voice chanting across the room, soon followed by a choir of others.

“We worship you!”  
“Son of Ra, may we bring forth our wounded, the ones that suffer and are tired?”

“You may.”

Suddenly the throng of people morphed in a neat line in front of the throne- and why in Her’s name was he sitting on a _throne_?! It had been quite some time since the Archangels sat on thrones in Heaven, as it hadn’t seemed appropriate seeing the use the humans had made of it- in Heaven the only throne should be Hers.

He keenly observed the snakes engraved in the stone, coiling around the armrests in a way that with Raphael’s bare forearms settled on them it seemed like they blended in the three gold stripes on his skin. He noticed that some of the best dressed humans too had gold coiled around their arms- but they were bracelets, and there was only one on each part.

Gabriel’s skin began to crawl. He really didn’t want to deal with a cult. Not one started by his painfully imperfect brother.

“Come hither, children, I will do what I can.”

And suddenly they came forth, kneeling before him and giving Gabriel the strongest nausea. One after the other, they paraded in front of him, talking quietly with Raphael, who after mere seconds touched them, making them all inhale deeply, before they bowed further, rose, and went away.

“What... eh?”

“It was him you were searching for, sir, right?”

“Yes, but what’s he doing?!”

“Ra’s son heals us, sir-”

“And who’s this Ra now?!”

“The father of everything, sir” now the human was watching him as though he thought him stupid but hadn’t the nerve to tell him. Stupid! Him, the Archangel Gabriel! Bloody annoying the humans, really “He is the sun, and apparently, he’s sent us his very spawn to help us in our struggles. Ra is very merciful.” 

A woman, shivering, trembling and hunched over, attempted to kneel before Raphael, but the Archangel rose from his throne and took her hands before she could. She gave him a wobbly grateful smile. Gabriel tried to listen.

“I am ready to face Anubis, son of Ra.”

“And your time is near” Raphael smiled encouragingly, holding tighter her wrinkled hands “but you won’t join the other side today, nor tomorrow. And I feel you hurting.”

“I am. I am asking you if you could help me, make me go peacefully. To appease my family.”

“I will” Raphael bended down, touching her ancient brow with his lips in a very strange gesture Gabriel had seen humans do for centuries without ever understanding its meaning “better now?”  
Just as Gabriel sensed a miracle taking place the woman began to shake and cry, hunching further down, resting her forehead reverently on his hands, nodding in broken movements. Suddenly a little girl came near the elder human, touched her back and embraced her, prying her away from the Archangel.

She might have been six years old.

“Thank you.”

Raphael caressed her jet-black hair once, before sending the two away.

Gabriel strode over, coming up behind him, puzzled, following the pair with his eyes.

The woman was still crying, but she was walking more surely than before. The little girl was offering her shoulders for her to grip and steady herself, selflessly taking the old human’s weight. She was so small, but already-

“Surprising, aren’t they? She’s helping her grandma without even thinking about it, and that woman swallowed her pride coming here to me, in front of the community, to smoothen her passing for her family. Anyway” Raphael turned his eyes on Gabriel’s, the skin around them crinkling merrily “so happy to see you. You’ve left me here only with demons for quite the long time.”

“Demons? Have they sent someone other than that… how is it called?”  
“Azrafell, and you should say “he”, not “it”. It’s impolite to objectify entities, did you know that?”  
“It is not an entity” Gabriel growled, because this polite business was starting to rub him the wrong way “it’s a _demon.”_

“Wow” Raphael raised one red eyebrow, unimpressed “and you only noticed now?”

“What are you even-”

“Anyway!” Raphael perked up so suddenly that Gabriel took a few startled steps back “come with me, there’s a million things I haven’t done yet today, unfortunately I’ve got a tight schedule and I thought you’d come tomorrow, so I didn’t free myself for the day, not a problem, but still.”

“Um... okay?”

Gabriel walked at Raphael’s side, trying to get his bearings and recover from the other’s mood changes. Sometimes he wondered if there was something very very wrong with him.

“So… are there any demons on Earth beside _Azrafell_?”

“Yup. Lord Behemoth came to make a visit.”

“To Azirafell?”  
“Nah, the Lords aren’t usually interested in him. I mean, of course Lord Beelzebub comes to check on him every now and then-”

“That wretched piece of dung!”

“Come on, Gabriel, they’re not so awful. I know you and Beelzebub don’t exactly get along-”

“And you only noticed now?”

His witty comeback was received with a distinctly non-angelic scowl, and Gabriel itched to stuck out his tongue as he’d seen some young mortals do in situations of the kind- but no, he was better than this.

“Anyway, you have your problems” continued Raphael “I on the other hand received, as I was trying to say before you got in a fit-”

“Listen, you-”

“I received a lovely visit from Lord Behemoth, we chatted a bit, had a delightful confrontation and I discorporated him.”

“… huh?” Gabriel stopped in the middle of the hallway, baffled “are you serious? You discorporated _Behemoth? * “He is the chief of ways of Gd: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him”?_

**_*_ ** **The Esteemed Reader may want to know that the Author is about to unapologetically quote the Bible. The Esteemed Reader may want to know that the Author will do it again.**

**The Esteemed Reader may want to know that Behemoth means “animals”, a way that ancestors though fashionable to emphasize greatness, and is also the name of the poor sod.**

**The Esteemed Reader may want to go back to the story.**

**The Esteemed Reader is allowed to.**

_  
_ “Oh, come on, they haven’t written that yet.”

“No, but they are _telling stories_.”

“Yes, but _they_ are telling stories. We both know that Her chief creation was Michael, and _not_ Behemoth, that wasn’t even called Behemoth at the time. Mainly because we didn’t speak Hebrew and we didn’t know what an animal was.”

“Ok, but _you discorporated_ Behemoth, _with your staff?”  
_“Of course I did it with my staff. It’s not like I have a flaming sword or anything.”

“But-”

“I’m perfectly capable of attacking, brother dearest, and _not_ only spectacularly defend myself.” Raphael watched him condescendingly, before starting to walk anew “And if I may say so, I had a grand time fighting with Behemoth.”

Gabriel followed him, surprised.

“Well, nice job, brother. It surely was no easy feat as you want me to believe, considering that humans think him to be destroyable only by Her hand. I’ll tell Michael and give you a commendation.”

“If you want to” Raphael seemed quite nonchalant. It made Gabriel think.

Oh, yes. He had almost made him forgot.

“Why did you chat with a demon Lord, for Her sake?!”  
“Because I felt like it!” the Healer barely had the decency of blushing. Really… “I told you, it’s a bit lonely here.”

“But” Gabriel watched him suspiciously. Of course, it was suspicion. Why should he be concerned after all? “you told me _they_ were terribly interesting creatures.”

“They _are._ I mean, of course they are. But they all know me here, and I am not exactly presenting as human, am I?”  
“What’s the problem? You aren’t human after all.”

“But they are afraid! They perceive me as some kind of idol, so they are afraid of stepping out of line! They are not totally sincere with me!”

They started to climb a flight of stairs downwards. Gabriel didn’t like the metaphorical implication of that.

“Why didn’t you disguise yourself then?”  
“Because they are trying, and they are damningly _brilliant,_ but they still know next to nothing of medicine. And they need to be healed. So here I am.”

Gabriel nodded. He wasn’t sure he understood, but he nodded anyway.

“Where are you taking me then?”

“Oh” Raphael stopped mid-step as he descended into the depth of the rock (had it been transported or had they carved this space out of a mountain? How had the architects exactly managed to do it?) “I wasn’t even thinking about it, would you like to take this to my rooms?”

“Is it where we’re going?”

“No” Raphael huffed out a laugh “not so far into the ground, I wouldn’t have accepted it, waking without the sun on my face.”

Gabriel didn’t want to fight right now. He really wasn’t in the mood for it. So he had let pass the- unintentional, he’d give him that- inception of a cult, and he’d let the mention of Raphael’s _sleeping habits-_ more accurately, the un-lack thereof - slide too.

“So, where are we headed?”

“My medical room” a smile bloomed on the other’s face “I have to finish working on the bowels of this fellow.”

“If you had to perform some sort of internal surgery why did you leave your patient unattended? Are you actively trying to turn him the other side of the veil?”

“I think he managed that all on his own.”

Gabriel shook his head as they resumed walking down the stairs, staring at his brother’s back. He suddenly was extremely aware that it was unclothed, a slight sheen of oil- oil? Was it oil, or maybe only sweat with that sweet a scent? - smeared all over the naked skin, highlighting the jumping muscles, twitching at the barest movement.

“Are those tiny scraps of linen actually comfortable?”  
“Quite” Raphael shrugged, shoulders rising deliciously before dropping down, muscles relaxed “wouldn’t be really smart bundling oneself up in this infernal heat.”

Of course, it really was quite hot in Egypt- was it only a bad time of the year?- but self-restraint was one of the new points in Heaven’s policy. No matter the discomfort, they should at least try to keep some level of modesty, without flaunting their tanned bodies around the place-

“Hey!”  
So caught up in his own thoughts was he that he hadn’t noticed Raphael stopping in front of the entryway, therefore leading him to crash on that damp back- and how could Raphael stand to be anything less than perfectly dry?  
“S-sorry.” 

Raphael watched him quizzically before probably deciding that it wasn’t worth it, shrugging and lifting a long drape that hung from the ceiling- they were in a cavern, was _ceiling_ even the correct word?

“So, as I was telling you, they’re starting to understand how the body functions, and even their errors are quite fascinating” they shuffled into a torch lit room, and again Gabriel found himself overwhelmed by the potency of the smells lingering in the air “and they have started this practice, it’s called mu-”

“What’s this smell?” Gabriel frowned. He hadn’t noticed it immediately, masked as it was by the incense and crushed dried leaves of something, but it was there, acrid and unpleasant “some kind of decomposing animal?”

“Not quite” Raphael crept further into the room, pushing aside another curtain of linen disappearing behind it “it’s the patient I told you about.”

Gabriel barely had the time to register that the room he was in was full of alabaster vases and sharp utensils before Raphael drew the sheet of fabric, revealing-

“That man is dead!”  
The infuriating red-head blinked owlishly at him while peering over the slightly grey corpse.

“Yes? I didn’t notice.”

“You didn’t notice?! When you start to tend to a patient-”

“Gabriel…”

“You are supposed, as an angelic being, do I need to remind you? To tend to them attentively, not just get out of their dying room-” “Gabriel.”

“For Her sake, you are a Healer, you’re supposed to have contact with the living-”

“Gabriel!”  
At that point he lifted his eyes to meet sheer exasperation in those golden irises, fierce in the firelight.

“I knew that he was dead, Gabriel. It was sarcasm.” 

“Oh” a pause. No, no bells ringing “oh yeah, sarcasm, of course” Gabriel nodded for credibility “yeah, I knew that.”

As it elicited a frustrated grunt from the other, Gabriel feared that it wasn’t as convincing as he’d wanted it to.

“I’ll explain it to you someday. Now I really must work.”

“Why are you treating a dead man?”

“Creativeness of humanity is endless, you know right?” Raphael picked up a sharp hook from a drawer “they decided that to successfully pass away their body has to stay whole. They even wrote it in their Book of the Dead, _“I survive, I haven’t disappeared like my entrails- My body will last, it won’t decay, it doesn’t disappear on this Earth, forever” *_. Quite clever if it weren’t so wrong, isn’t it?”

***The Esteemed reader may want to know that Raphael has just quoted part of the aphorism 154 of the Book of the Dead.**

**The Esteemed Reader may want to know that the Book of the Dead has been used at a much later date- but angels had too much knowledge for their own good, hadn’t they?**

**The Esteemed Reader may again go on reading the story.**

His long fingers started to feel the carcass- as it had started to stink a little Gabriel was entitled to call it that- a look of concentration on his face.

“So you… make their bodies unwitherable?”

“Pretty much, even though I’m doing it the human way. It’s not that difficult, you basically have to remove internal organs so that it doesn’t rot and-”

“I’m not sure I want to hear more.”

Raphael chuckled, a glint in his eyes that Gabriel couldn’t quite place. He didn’t like it. Not a bit.

“Then you should turn around.”

Gabriel frowned, not really understanding why, but nonetheless complying.

It was almost silence for a while, until that… that _squelching_ sound…

Gabriel turned on instinct, just in time to see a wet and bloody brain slip out of a hideously engorged nostril.

Gabriel felt lightheaded.

And nauseous.

And he felt himself falling to the ground, Raphael’s shout in the background.

Gabriel knew no more.

… _and the Esteemed Reader may have understood that Gabriel has **strong reactions** when confronted with the grossness of humanity. _

**N/A- Michael’s office, Cloud (edited), Heaven**

“So, how did it go?”

Gabriel had politely knocked before letting himself into the pristine white and argyle office. His eyes roamed around the place briefly- not much to take note of, really. All of the offices in Heaven were exactly the same.

He’d know, right? It had been his first real project, when he had been a few not-centuries old. Need had arisen when Khamuel and Uriel had started to fight and shout at each other because they had been both trying their hand at composing the first hymns ever in the history of the universe to praise their Creator and they endlessly needled at each other, snarking that their work would be better and screaming that the other was trying to copy what they had already written down. Raphael had suggested that maybe they all needed their own space to work- and it would help not to pry on each other’s projects. In the end Gabriel had risen to the challenge and created seven offices for the seven of them- and _for Her sake,_ he could barely fathom that there had been a long time in which there had been only the seven of them- and the Almighty had thought the idea was so good that She’s replicated those offices in smaller scale all over the place.

Gabriel had to blink his eyes, once, twice, to snap out of his reverie. He certainly shouldn’t be thinking about that times (and he totally hadn’t been about to smile like a loon remembering that old quarrel between Uriel and Khamuel, and how in the end the only one between all of them that had turned out with some kind of musical talent had been Raphael- and that was even stretching it, Raphael’s voice was absolutely _dreadful._ Come to think of it, he shouldn’t even be thinking about Raphael.

In fact, he wasn’t.)

“Oh Gabriel, please, enter.”

Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows, while seating himself on one of the stools on one side of the desk.

“I’m… already in?”  
Finally Michael raised her head from the blade she was inspecting. Her eyebrows shot up.

“So it seems.”

There was an uncomfortable silence for a painful stretch of time. Gabriel sometimes wondered if spending so much time with Raphael was starting to make him catch hir’s… eccentricities. Gabriel shook his head. Best not think about hir.

“So” Gabriel cleared his voice, despite its superfluity “how did it go?”  
“Perfectly it seems. Raphael just wrote me the lengthiest letter ze’s ever sent in hir life describing how humans are instituting judges and trying to follow the laws by the letter.”

Gabriel’s lips contracted into a hard line.

“Very well. I suppose I must pass the list of the Commandments to the rest of the Host?”

“I think a global meeting of explanation may be in order.”

“Ok, I’ll organize that as soon as I go back to my office-”

“Yes, please, do. But I think that only the clerk-angels at the Pearly Gates* will need the list.

***Grammar and Vocabulary for the confused Esteemed Reader; Pearly Gates: imaginary entrance of Heaven, in Christian perception guarded and managed by Saint Peter.**

**The Esteemed Reader may now understand that these definitions, so popular in modern times, are quite incorrect.**

**First of all, the Esteemed Reader may notice that the Pearly Gates are very much real.**

**Secondly, we ask the Esteemed Reader not to picture a bearded old man with some giant keys in hand and a huge register open on a stool, full of names and such- mainly because Saint Peter had yet to arrive, as much as Christian perception.**

**The Esteemed Reader may, however, imagine what look like hundreds of info-boxes managed by clerk-angels with not so neat queues of souls waiting for their turn,**

**We thank the Esteemed Reader for their attention**

“What about the solicitors?”

“Right” Michael sighs, cradling her face in her hands in mock exhaustion (Michael and exhaustion have never been on familiar terms) “forgot about them, the department is so new.”

“Yes, but I created it for a reason. You have no idea how much people were fighting with the poor clerk-angels because of supposed _“errors in the review of their lives”_.”

Michael starts to fiddle with the sharp blade on her desk.

“Weren’t solicitors work of those Downstairs?”  
“No, they only were Hell’s idea, but they never put them to use- that’s also why on Earth they aren’t of fashion yet. And in the end, it’s more our policy than theirs, what with trying to be just and equal and giving everyone a chance to be heard. Especially now that we have so many lovely rules.”

“Yes” Michael nodded, eyes fixed on the dagger “very modern of us. I guess you should go to work. Plenty of it ahead of you, right?”

“Indeed” Gabriel rose without making the stool scrape against the floor and quietly walked toward the door, measured steps not to betray his impatience to put an end to this conversation “I’ll see you for the conference.”

“Righto*, bye!”

* **We plead the Esteemed Reader to forgive her, she is not aware of how cringe-y she sounds.**

**Same vocabulary problem as the others, unfortunately.**

Gabriel closed the door behind him, a slow smile spreading on his face.

Rules were being written and enacted.

Heaven’s souls rates had spiked up and were now doubling Hell’s, much to his satisfaction and that awful Beelzebub’s dismay.

Proper heavenly work was being done in Heaven and Earth.

More importantly, he had his tasks to attend to, and it was all very respectful of the Rules.

He hadn’t seen Raphael nor heard hir strange, confusing, misleading thoughts and looks in 158 earthly years.

For the first time since the creation of Earth, Gabriel’s mind was at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... ops. Way to go, I forgot about this fic. I'm sorry y'all- no, I'm really not, it's becoming more and more frustrating and tiring to get no interaction with the readers, which just makes me assume y'all are hating this- and I really can't find the strength to be invested in this story anymore.  
> So... here, Christmas time/ last day of Hannukkah update and then I will probably take a break on this.  
> Hope this didn't actively suck, and that y'all have nice holidays.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was happy. Of course he was, they’ve been doing the Almighty’s bidding wondrously, She certainly was appeased.
> 
> But it was quiet in Heaven.

**1767 BC- somewhere in the Valley of the Yellow River, China**

**THIS SCENE HAS BEEN CENSORED FOR DECENCY’S SAKE.**

THE ESTEEMED READER MAY STILL LIKE TO KNOW THAT A WOMAN NAMED MOXI WAS INVOLVED- AND WITH HER AN ORGY AND A POOL OF WINE WHERE SHE DROWNED HUNDREDS OF MEN WHILE THEY SEEKED THE ULTIMATE PLEASURES OF THE HUMAN FLESH.

THE ESTEEMED READER MAY IMAGINE THE KIND OF FIT THAT GABRIEL HAD WHEN HE WITNESSED THE SCENE.

THE ESTEEMED READER MAY ALSO STAY ASSURED THAT GABRIEL PERSONALLY DRAGGED MOXI’S SOUL TO HELL, SHOVING HER IN BEELZEBUB’S ARMS.

(BEELZEBUB WAS VERY NOT-PLEASED, AND ABSOLUTELY NOT-SMILED CONTENTEDLY AT THEIR HEREDITARY ENEMY)

**N/A Heaven…**

It was quiet in Heaven.

You could detect the Almighty’s omnipresence particularly strongly Up Here. It felt like a thick woolen blanket that draped itself over creatures, angels, souls, thin air, keeping everything in, muffling their breaths and steps. Gabriel had always thought that was why Heaven was so quiet- and yes, sometimes he got a bit nostalgic thinking of a time when this quietness wasn’t all that quiet at all, and it was _vibrant-_

It was quiet in Heaven. It was quiet almost all the time to be honest, but in that moment it was especially quiet. 

He was in the Virtues’ Choir room and things were smooth and swell. The soul rates were more than acceptable, all the needed departments were in place and working steadily, and the humans were apparently mostly in check, just some small wars here and there.

He was happy. Of course he was, they’ve been doing the Almighty’s bidding wondrously, She certainly was appeased.

But it was quiet in Heaven.

He had gone and checked around the Host at work more than usual, but he always ended up here.

The Virtues were good singers. Very good singers, he’d been listening to them practicing and praising Her for hours.

The lyrics were impeccable- Sandalphon* had a gift for spinning tales of Her Love, waving rhymes and lines of Adoration and Devotion, he was such a good archangel- and the pitch high and flawless, reverberating through his vessel and everything else near, feeling like ringing glass and sheer water.

***Our Esteemed Reader may here be confused. We want to assure them that, yes, we’re talking about the one and same Sandalphon that helped Gabriel carry out his Sodom assignment. He is, in fact, the angel of music**  
**The informed Esteemed Reader- if they happen to be a West End or Broadway nerd- would now that in The Phantom of the Opera _The Angel of Music_ isn’t a particularly soothing song*****

*****Sandalphon has never hidden his queer creepiness. Why should he?**

Still, thanks to some kind of sickly twisted paradox, the Virtues’ singing didn’t make Heaven any less quiet. He closed his eyes and breathed in Holy essence; everything was so… deliciously static. A clear film that tightly hugged everything, all-consuming in its calm, and peace, and all sorts of good cool things.

To be fair, his own stillness contributed to it, but it was virtuous and right and-

Who was he even kidding? He was missing Earth’s constant bustle something _fierce,_ the fear to just fade away in heavenly molasse seeming less idiotic and surreal every passing instant.

Well… Raphael wouldn’t mind a little impromptu visit from their favorite brother*, right?

***Mad, mad angel, being so transparent and honest about their preferences, while they shouldn’t have any to begin with!**

**(And if Gabriel felt the urge to puff out his chest at the thought of being their favorite it was no one’s business but his own)**

Problem is, Gabriel all too often forgot how the warm light he saw outside Heavenly buildings’ windows* _didn’t always mean_ there would be light in the part of the world Raphael was loitering in.

***And, _for Her sake,_ he had done something quite praise-worthy of the views from said windows, hadn’t he? He really couldn’t wait till the construction angels finished whipping up his project for the Heavenly set of Pyramids**

**…749 BC- Ilion, Asia Minor**

That’s why he found himself surrounded by tents scattered on a clearing near the shore- as per Raphael’s last communicated address, some years prior- that lied under a dusky sky. Very dusky.

It was quiet in this war encampment at dawn. _(And Gabriel was suffocating, why, why was every place he wandered so stale and stifling and still-)_

Gabriel shook himself, extending his senses to locate Raphael’s angelic grace, trying to reach the healthy amount of chaos he longed and that maybe, maybe his sibling could provide and he shuffled gracefully between horses and chariots and weapons*  
***And he _didn’t_ risk tripping on them a dozen times on his way over, he _didn’t._ **

He finally sensed the aura being stronger when he found himself in front of a tent that felt like minor miracles that prickled gently at his human skin.

It was quite obviously Raphael’s, and he chided himself for not having noticed earlier- that peculiar snake curled around a strange staff that Raphael had designed* and grown so fond of was emblazoned every few centimeters of fabric.

Gabriel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Such a showoff, really.

***The even more peculiar story of how Raphael incepted their long line of names starting with A- the first one being the majestic Asclepios indeed- and how Gabriel added to the Angelorum Praecepta** the new epitaph “Thou shalt not resurrect mortals from the Dead without Her permission” may be told another day.**

**The best part of this endeavour was when with great pleasure Gabriel painted said epitaph with a glaring reddish-purple ink on a particularly prized Babylonian tunic he pilfered from the ever expanding clothes stash Raphael kept in their office Up There- it wouldn’t do to carry them around every time they moved from continent to continent with their tight-paced Archangelic schedule- and sent it to them.**

**Raphael didn’t speak to him for fifty years, but it had been worth it.**

**** And _no,_ he didn’t know why they had written it in Latin, please, kindly stop asking stupid questions.**

As Gabriel entered Raphael’s tent, he found that it was not quiet.

Definitely not quiet.

A low rumble vibrated through the air, vaguely disconcerting and resembling in sound the grunts that boar in Malaysia a few years prior that had been about to-

No. He wouldn’t dig into that embarrassing situation further, he firmly refused to*.

***Gabriel had successfully swatted away those memories when a crude and unpleasant image forced its way to the front of his mind.**

**For Her sake, the amount of dung a boar could produce. No entity should be forced to witness that.****

****Gabriel still thought that boars were one of Her earlier prototypes that had got queer in the making. Like _platypodes***_. Oh, how he disliked _platypodes_.**

***** _Yes, platypodes._ Who in hell thought it smart or even grammatically correct to call them platypi? Didn’t they see the poor Greek language weep at so blatant disregard of the quite simple flexion of _pous, podos?_**

**(Yes, there are people that call them platypuses. We don’t talk about those people. They didn’t even make the effort of checking up the Latin plural ending- and can we blame the poor little scientists that, used to having all their queer animal names in Latin assumed this one to be too?**

**Yes, we can, but that’s not what this note was about.**

**What was this note about again?)**

And to be honest, this kind of rumble was a tad softer than the boar’s. Small mercies.

It was also coming from his sibling. They were sprawled on a pile of clean hay, covered in heavy woolen blankets almost head to toe, red ringlets spilling on their shoulders, bouncing with every deep rise and fall of their chest.

So this was that “sleeping” business. How strange that in all his visits on Earth during the millennia he had never witnessed anyone “sleeping”.

Had it not been for the boar-like sounds, he could have thought Raphael had been discorporated and had left a dead body behind, but no, they were so very slightly breathing and how peaceful was their face, relaxed and open, _vulnerable-_

Raphael scrunched up their long nose and clumsily moved to lie on their left side, facing Gabriel. Their graceless motions caused the blankets to slip, leaving part of their torso uncovered, and why were they wearing a shirt at all when it was so white and sheer that he could see right through it?

Gabriel didn’t notice immediately, but he was slowly striding towards them. He was simply curious about this “sleeping” activity. That’s it.

He crouched down, staring, interested. _So…_

He extended his hand _…Very…_

And stopped midair ( _what was he doing?_ ) _…peaceful._

He shook his head. What did it matter after all?  
He breathed deeply, and determinedly he gently brushed a crimson curl from Raphael’s face.

They stirred, and Gabriel moved back as though burned while unhuman eyes opened sleepily. Raphael frowned, world probably slowly coming into focus ( _had he overstepped? What-_ ) before smiling faintly.

“Fancy seeing you here, brother.” 

Gabriel ( _felt a rush of relief, no it was ok, it was ok-_ ) raised an eyebrow in a distinctly Raphael-like fashion, making the redhead in front of him snort, sitting up and shaking their head before stretching their pale arms above their head.

“Don’t be like that” they continued to snigger as they rose, the sheer white garment falling just above their knee, uncovering their thighs as they bent to tug on some leather sandals “I’m pleased to have you here, in my tent, all alone.”

Raphael’s gaze was intense and sardonic at the same time, making Gabriel strangely feel naked and flustered under those burning golden eyes.

“Rapha… Raphael w-what…?”  
His stammering was apparently incredibly amusing since his sibling started to wheeze, a full-blown laugh that had never had a hint of angelic but made you stop and stare all the same.

Well. If you weren’t currently reaching levels of embarrassment and confusion that should have stayed unknown.

(And why was he feeling tingly all over the face? Why suddenly his human-like flesh started to feel more heated than ever before? Why was he on fire?  
_Was it close to this what his victims experienced that time in-_ )  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” they obviously didn’t seem to be at all “it’s just that you’re so _innocent!”  
_“Are you” Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows, a pang that felt inexplicably similar to hurt squeezing his chest “mocking me?”  
Raphael suddenly stopped laughing.

“No” they shook their head sharply, their red hair spilling from the half-made braid “no, of course not. It’s just… that sometimes I forget you aren’t here on Earth enough to know certain things.”

Gabriel ducked his head, mutely accepting the half apology, eyes following Raphael’s wiry figure as they approached the entrance of the tent.

“Where are you…?”

They looked at him with strange softness in their big eyes. For Her sake did Gabriel-

“I want to show you something. And” a little laugh, all air from the nose and controlled mirth “talk to you without hearing Ulysses’ snores.”

Gabriel let himself be led out of the tent, trying to see where carts and weapons were scattered on the ground- it wouldn’t do to embarrass himself in front of Raphael after all. They would never let him live it down.

“You’re the one to talk”

Raphael’s eyes widened in outrage. “I beg your pardon?”

Gabriel let one corner of his lips quirk up amusedly. “You snore yourself.”

“I most certainly do not!” huffed the red-head self-righteously.  
“You do, and quite loudly too. That’s how I found you.”

An icy glare. “You didn’t.”

“I didn’t.” Gabriel acquiesced “But you snore.”

Raphael scoffed and looked at the sky, a slight smile playing on their lips. Gabriel suspected there still was one on his mouth too, but it’s not like he particularly cared.

They walked silently among the tents after that, maybe to avoid waking up the rest of the army. The Greek encampment was so very quiet this early in the morning, but Gabriel now found it almost comforting. It was the kind of quiet that spoke of rest, and it didn’t suffocate you, didn’t hug you, didn’t adhere to every inch of your skin, but tenderly surrounded you. And if someone else was awake and quiet and near, well, all the better. He may as well have enjoyed it.

Until it wasn’t quiet anymore.

“What is this?”

There was an unassuming little sound, somewhat rhythmic and persistent. It was almost like the sweet gentle song the Yellow River and the Nile played incessantly, every second of their life- but not quite.

“It’s the sea. Have you never been? Here, we-”

And Raphael had probably gone off in one of their epic rants, but Gabriel had to miss out on this one as he had completely spaced out, mind reeling at the sight that awaited him just behind the last tent.

An endless expanse of water, so vast that the eye lost itself, taking in more space than the mind could think about, immense and so _alive._ Gabriel found himself lacking unnecessary air in his lungs as he tried to follow the glints of blinding light and pink and grey hues dancing on the surface, the gentlest waves frolicking and chasing each other playfully, mesmerizing him.

And as though that wasn’t enough- _but it was, it was so much more_ \- a great disc of light lied languid on the horizon, almost rising from the water, painting the most beautiful shades of undiscovered colour in the sky.

He almost felt his knees buckle, the urge to kneel and pray and praise so strong because oh, how beautiful was the Almighty’s creation-

“… but it’s salty so- hey, are you even listening?”

Gabriel turned his head sharply towards his sibling, batting his eyelids multiple times, trying to pull out from the trance-like state he’d fallen in.

“I’m sorry what?”

Raphael watched him intently, a slow smile blooming on their face.

“It doesn’t matter. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Gabriel turned his head to the horizon once more, nodding indolently.

“Yeah.”

It was a vision, a dream, a moment of almost divine ecstasy to use human terms.

However, all dreams must be broken at some point, mustn’t they?

“Oi! You lovebirds, clear the field please!”

Raphael’s shout caused two young men to scatter to their feet and rapidly run in the cluster of tents, clothes hanging off them untied.

“Really, kissing by the shore at dawn, could these humans get any cornier?”

Gabriel watched as his sibling walked near the sea, sitting in the sand.

“Couldn’t you leave them alone? After all there’s plenty of space for us all.”

Raphael raised their head to look up at him, pausing for a moment.

“Nah” they decided “those wet smooching sounds are annoying, you wouldn’t have enjoyed the experience. And it’s a first, so it must be _perfect.”_

Gabriel felt his lips twitch. Only She knows why Her Healer must be so rude sometimes.

( _And if Gabriel enjoyed that a bit more than was licit, well, it was his own business and no one else’s)_

“Are you going to hover there like some sort of overgrown owl?”

“Do you expect me to sit in the _dirt?”_

“This sand is clean you germ-freak, don’t be a snob”

“It will _stick_ to my robe.”

“You can miracle it away.”

In the end, he relented, carefully seating down on the cold soil, back ramrod straight.

It’s superfluous to say that Raphael was thoroughly sprawled out. And Gabriel had stopped trying to get them to be composed at all times long ago. These days, if they were alone he just let it slide and kept his mouth shut.

“So? How is it going around here?”  
Raphael frowned.

“Have I missed sending my report again? Is that why you’re here?”  
“No” Gabriel rushed to say “no, this time at least you sent it.”

“Are there concerning news that require to be delivered in person? Something you couldn’t have simply written down?”

“Wait, what- Is it really that strange that I wanted to check on you?”

“We saw each other thirty-two years ago, Gabriel. You show up every fifty years when I’m lucky. Otherwise it’s once a century.”

“You almost sound as though I have been _neglecting_ you”

Raphael sent him a withering glare in response that left Gabriel bewildered. He really didn’t know how to interpret it.

“Well, change of schedule. If you’re trying to send me away because you have something to hide, then-”

“I have absolutely nothing to hide.”

Gabriel matched Raphael’s defiant look with his own-

“Very well. Then I don’t see the problem.”

Their staring contest went on for a while, and the more time passed, the more Gabriel’s stomach-like thing constricted.

Until Raphael severed the eye contact and peacefully observed the sea.

“I missed you too” they said, and Gabriel almost choked on his spit “anyway, it’s a war, so not very well. It’s been going on for ten years Gabriel, can you believe it?! Ten, darned years of bloodshed. Honestly, times like these make me question humanity’s ability to be sage- or even just stop and think. Who the hell thought that sending men to die in this stupid war for ten years in a row was such a good idea?”

Raphael exhaled shakily, clearly exhausted by the situation. Gabriel, still reeling from the previous confession, felt the inexplicable urge to put a hand on their shoulder. Thank goodness that he kicked into silence.

“Sometimes I think you put too much faith in humans.”  
“No, absolutely not. They’re marvelous.”

“You have just lamented their stupidity!”  
“But that’s not what they are.” Gabriel shot them an unconvinced look and the words started to pour out like a waterfall “I mean, yes they are stupid. Some of them. Sometimes. For a part of their lives. And some never grow out of it. That’s not the point- they are intelligent. Well, some of them. Still, they possess this unreplaceable quality of astounding you every time you thought you had them figured out.”

Gabriel’s perplexed state must have been quite apparent on his face.

“Oh come on! What’s your problem?”

“To be entirely honest I can’t think of even a single one.”  
“Take this” Raphael breathed deeply, staring moodily at the sea “their ability to love. Even here, where they massacre each other endlessly, and I’m forced to run after them after battles to patch them up, these men that find next to no remorse in taking the life of another, they can love each other so dearly, and purely. Take Agamemnon. He started a war to restore his brother’s honor and get him back his wife.”  
“Wasn’t it a pretest to take the riches of Ilion?”  
“How you deromanticize, yes it was a good political move, but he wouldn’t have started it if not for his brother! Or Hector, that’s more selfless. The way he has fought to straighten Paris’ wrongdoings and has scolded him to make him understand his ways were wrong, that’s incredible!”  
“If you say so…”  
“Of course I say so! Humans can form bonds so very strong with people they merely share a house with during their infancy, that they take as a given the pledge of loyalty to each other, the promise to shoulder each other through prosperity and adversity…”

They trailed off, a wistful look on their face, lost in thought, exploring this strange version of siblinghood that humans invented, so far from the equal and respectful siblinghood of Heaven. Was it the shared blood that made them think like that? Was-

Before he could lose himself in his elucubration like the redhead beside him a pained whine reached his ears. Was someone injured? Was an ambush happening? Would the battle take place soon?

Raphael hadn’t even stirred, but he didn’t trust them to always make the right decision, so he followed the noise, now replaced by low grunts, hoarse broken sounds that probably escaped a man’s throat.

He quickly found himself in front of a rich tent, just on the edge of the cluster, still extremely near the shore. A long, low-pitched moan made him grip the fabric, permitting him to enter. Sure a wounded soldier was suffering some mutilation or infection. Where were Raphael when they were needed!?  
As soon as he lifted it-

Two naked bodies sliding against each other, a dark haired man facing the back of a muscly fairer one, sliding between the other’s thighs his… his… manhood? Repeatedly?

Another deep grunt made him flee, and as soon as he reached his sibling’s lying form Gabriel thought himself lucky he didn’t freeze in front of those… those strange men’s tent.

“Raphael… R-Raphael…”  
“I guess Patroclus and Achilles woke up, huh?”  
“ _What the Hell?!”_

Raphael started wheezing, while Gabriel stared at them in shock.

“What sort of sick ritual is that?!”  
“Oh come off it, they weren’t doing anything wrong”  
“But-”

“It’s called sex. They do it to let off steam and have a rush of endorphins.”

“Wasn’t sex supposed to be the way women conceive?”

“Yes.”  
“I saw no woman there!”  
“As I just told you, that’s not the sole purpose of sex.”

“Are you saying that they _enjoy_ that?!”

Raphael started laughing again, much to Gabriel’s dismay.

And when after a couple of minutes it didn’t die off ( _it’s not that because you don’t need breathing you are allowed to laugh this long, blasted angel)_ he resigned to sit back and watch the pink glow of the sky above them.

And as his sibling’s mirth rang loud and clear in the crisp morning air, accompanied by the gentle rumble of the sea, Gabriel enjoyed the lack of stifling quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone  
> Yanex is momentarily back in the GO fandom, but not for long I’m afraid.  
> I had written out 10 chapters in total of The thing with feathers, and in the near future I'll be fighting writer's block by finishing to edit this fic and I'll post the chapters left - would you like a weekly update or to have them every few days? Let me know in the comments if you like!
> 
> The truth is, I will not write more than that; I have fallen out of love with this story, even though I had planned out almost every detail and it was kind of a behemoth (it was supposed to be something like at least 60 chapters plus two other installments to the verse) but I can’t do it anymore, and to be entirely honest, I barely recognize the writing style I used here, that's how much out-of-touch with this I am. It was a demanding story that was very important to me and gave me a chance to practice a foreign language (as usual, I'm sorry for my English, if anyone spots errors feel absolutely free to point them out to me) and improve my writing- but it probably wasn't meant to be, and no one's to blame for that. I took interest into another fandom which suits me more- if you are acquainted with that fandom and you feel like it I’d be elated if you checked out my work there, but let’s not dwell on this shameless self promotion- and I just can’t connect to the husbands (or Gabriel) anymore.  
> I’m sorry if there was someone out there who liked my story, or the writing, the idea, whatever, I hope these measly chapters have entertained you and the few next that are still coming will do the same. 
> 
> This said, you never know in life, and I may one day find the strength to pick up this story again and go on with the plan, I’ll keep the door open so to say, but I don’t feel like it will be in the near future. 
> 
> Anyway, if you were interested- after I post the tenth chapter, of course- you can ask me on tumblr for a rundown of how things should have gone, I would post the skeleton of it as a chapter here but again, I don’t know if in the future I’ll write more of this, so it doesn’t feel fair to spoiler it to everyone.  
> Thanks again to everyone who read for your time, I hope you will all have a lovely day/night!


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